MEDICA HEALTH IT FORUM Focuses on Sustainability -
The Value of Health IT in Fighting Climate Change
With the "Digital Patient Journey", for example, an important topic nis presented right at the start of MEDICA 2022 on Monday, 14 November, non the programme stage of the MEDICA HEALTH IT FORUM.n Moderator Prof. Felix Hoffmann, from the Apollon University for Health nCare Management in Bremen, has already emphasised that processes in nhealth care need improving. For example, a fracture of the lateral nmalleolus (ankle bone) usually would only need standard treatment. But nif a patient arrives at the hospital late in the evening, it could nhappen that rather less experienced doctors have to carry out treatment,n says Hoffmann. In this case, software-based check lists could render nvaluable support - for example those offered by Kumi Clinical. With the nhelp of this software, clinical teams can plan, organise and synchronisen treatment following a digital check list. From their arrival to ncheck-ups in the aftermath of inpatient care, patients follow a digital ntreatment path, which is based on medical standards (SOPs) and can be nflexibly adapted. All roles that share a part of the treatment process nare integrated: doctors, care givers, service staff, hospital occupancy nand discharge management, as well as medical controlling. This is to nensure that all participants are kept current at all times regarding then latest information, and the entire treatment path is followed ncorrectly. The digital voice recognition software "voize" strives to ncontribute to the optimisation of these processes using digital speech nassistants, and will also be represented at this forum's symposium.
nTherapy plans "powered by AI"
In a further symposium on Tuesday afternoon, 15 November, there will nbe a discussion of therapy plans based on artificial intelligence (AI). nAlfa AI, for example, uses AI to create a therapy plan. The inherent nintuitive application follows patients throughout the entire process, noffers transparency as well as the prescribed training plan, including nvideo lessons. In this way, Alfa AI brings together medical knowledge, nlong-term experience with sports and fitness, insights about proper nnutrition and state-of-the-art technology.
There are, however, misgivings concerning "check list medicine". nAccording to Prof. Felix Hoffmann though, these are more a matter of then proper mindset. "How do I approach treatment?", "When is a customised nform of treatment really necessary?", and "When can treatments be nstandardised and carried out following previously defined paths?" are nimportant questions in this context. Hoffmann himself is a trauma nsurgeon, holds a chair at the Apollon University and is head of the nstaff unit for medical process development at the Klinikum Darmstadt nhospital complex. For him, it is a given that digitalisation alone does nnot improve processes. The processes themselves also need improving. As an bad example, he cites the electronic prescription, which would in ntheory be unnecessary if medicines could be accessed directly, without ngoing through a pharmacy. The pharmacists, however, probably beg to ndiffer on this.
How Medical Networking
can Help Save Energy
Improving processes in health care could also help fight climate nchange - for example through beneficial use of information technology. n"How can Healthcare become more sustainable with digital help? " is a nquestion that Armin de Greiff, technical director at the university nhospital in Essen will ask during the expert panel at the MEDICA HEALTH nIT FORUM on Wednesday, 16 November, which is wholly dedicated to the nissue of "Green Health & Sustainability". "You cannot quite align nfurthering modern data-driven medicine with saving energy", says de nGreiff. However, he emphasises that using medical networking does save nenergy, for example by helping to avoid repeat examinations. Images and nfindings should not be printed, faxed, sent by post and above all not ben transported by taxi. Rather, it should be possible to access them nanywhere, at any time.
Armin de Greiff further describes the use of artificial intelligence n(AI) for the generation of "virtual contrasts". With appropriate ntraining, networks are said to be able to predict different contrasts nfrom simple data sets and thus save on time intensive examinations. AI ncould also help to reduce or eliminate the need for contrast agents nduring CT examinations. Saving on examination time while reducing nradiation and contrast agents could be viewed from a sustainable nperspective. On the other hand, this also means, according to de Greiff,n that the persistent wish for the newest end user devices runs counter nto sustainability. He goes on to explain in this context that the ever nshortening product cycles serve to improve performance more than to nreduce energy consumption. At the same time, he warns: "We are facing a nparadigm shift." With this, de Greiff calls attention to the fact that an higher energy consumption in data centres is not necessarily the same nas overall higher consumption of energy. Virtualisation of the work nplace, e.g. through mobile working and by outsourcing applications with nhigh processing demands to servers at a data centre, leads to a nconcentration of consumption, but not necessarily to raised levels of nconsumption overall.
Hospitals have Room to
Improve when Protecting the Climate
Dr. Anna Levsen from the Deutsches Krankenhaus Institut, the German nhospital association, also strives to improve processes. Her tech talk ncentres on "Circularity in the Healthcare Industry" on Wednesday, 16 nNovember at 12:00 noon. Expanding on her presentation at the forum, nLevsen calls attention to the strict limitations that hospitals face in ntheir actions for sustainability and protection of the climate. However,n she insists: "There is a span lever we can use here." Levsen, too, sees nthe more sustainable use of, for example, large equipment as a chance. nOutdated technical equipment is rather wholly renewed than repaired and nkept in the system, as a circular economy would do. One solution could nbe a service contract with a manufacturer for medical technology, who ncould maintain the device in good working order. "Hospitals then would nnot own a device which they would have to throw away in the end, but nthey would own a contract according to which the company would provide nthe device, which would be kept usable as a high-quality product", Dr. nLevsen describes this approach. In this approach, manufacturers of nmedical technology would retain control over their devices.
The View must Stretch to the
Entire Energy and Resource Cycle
Auch There is also room to improve for many hospitals when it comes nto food, reducing the number of surplus meals and avoiding waste. From an clinical perspective, technologies used in telemedicine within nradiology for example, also offer options to reduce the need for nresources. If patients must be taken care of at home while receiving ntelemedical treatment, they also need the appropriate devices and need ntraining in how to use them - and this is often difficult to achieve as nDr. Levsen summarises: "A lot of things aren't thought through." nCircular economy means that all processes from beginning to end would nhave to be thought through, and even single-use products could offer a nmore sustainable solution than expected, especially where hygiene is an nissue.
We talk a lot about reducing carbon emissions, but we also have to ntalk about keeping resources in the system", Dr. Levsen emphasises. For nher, it is clear: "There is a need for action." The main hindrance from nthe perspective of the hospital association are a lack of funds for nurgently needed investments to protect the climate, which could also nhelp to make the entire energy and resource cycle more efficient. nConsidering the current gas crisis, Levsen hopes that this will now set nthings into motion. Another challenge is to get hospital staff "on nboard". As a rule of thumb, about ten percent of energy consumption can nbe saved by the users. Even taking the stairs instead of the lift or nbringing your own coffee cup to work could help save resources.
On the final day, 17 November 2022, the forum will focus on general ndevelopments and their possible relevance with regard to health IT. Somen of the topics in the programme are "Gender-sensitive medicine" and "Newn work & occupational health" as well as new developments in the arean of artificial intelligence.
Images: R. Eberhard, messekompakt.com, EBERHARD print & medien agentur gmbh
Source: Messe Düsseldorf