Lessons to learn from medical information in Germany

Medical information is at the heart of the current evolutions of healthcare systems. As Dr. Pierre-Michael Meier of the Entscheiderfabrik explains, the mastery of health data is the key to hospital transformation.

For three days, six French participants, doctors and technicians specialized in medical information benefited from an innovative training experience. SPH Conseil, a subsidiary of the French Hospital Federation and Dialog Health brought them to Hamburg, in the north of Germany, to meet experts in health technology and to discover new practices and perspectives.

This group of passionate doctors had the opportunity to visit several hospitals in the Schleswig-Holstein region, and to exchange with their executive teams on their digital transformation strategies, relying for example on the purchase of mobile tablets in addition to fixed computer solutions.

Participants discovered particularly promising organizational innovations, such as the Optimedis initiative. Optimedis is a company dedicated to integrating care. In partnership with a network of GPs, Optimedis has signed a cost-saving contract with health insurance funds, enabling it to offer integrated care to patients in the Kinzigtal region of the Black Forest. Their commitment, begun in 2006, is to be accountable for the cost of care for the patients of this territory of health. Through their investment in prevention and care coordination, they have been successful in reducing costs while improving the health status of the population.

Exchanges with Professor Huland, Director of the Martiniklinik have fascinated the group: since 1993, this surgical team specialized in prostate cancer questions its patients on their state of health after their hospital care. With 30,000 completed questionnaires a year, this team has a very accurate picture of the value of their care, focused on what really matters to their patients: oncological status but also continence and erectile function. An inspiring example of taking into account the patient experience to improve care and practice.