Digitization in Health Care Beginning of a profound change

How digitization is changing the healthcare industry

Digital media usage is indispensable. Just about every household in Germany owns at least one smartphone. An increasing number of people are using the Internet to make purchases, stream movies or research information. Social networks and messenger programs enable you to make connections from one end of the world to the next within seconds. The health sector is also affected by this rapid development, even if the changes are progressing more slowly here. Prof. Dr. Jan Ehlers from Witten / Herdecke University reports on how digitization is changing the healthcare industry.

According to Ehlers, the mills in the health sector grind slower than others due to high quality requirements and regulations, yet the beginning of a profound change is to be felt. The increasing use of modern technology and IT systems opens up new possibilities in the organization of hospitals and the administration and documentation of patient data. In addition, according to the expert, the diagnostic possibilities are increasing. The new technical possibilities also offer more alternatives to invasive surgery and digitization also allows a virtual doctor's visit via videoconferencing, which is already practiced in some countries today, according to Ehlers.

Modern medical technology and IT technology in the healthcare sector will demand a higher level of technical understanding from the doctors of the future. (Image: freshidea / fotolia.com)

The role of information technology in everyday medical practice

Ehlers assigns information technology a crucial role in the future medical life, taking as an example on neural interfaces. These so-called brain-computer interfaces allow a coupling of nerve cells in the brain with a computer or a computer. With the help of these interfaces you can operate computer programs or control dentures and only through the normal brain activity. As these novel methods require a high level of technical understanding, the requirements for doctors of the future are also changing. According to Ehlers, future physicians are expected to understand the functionality and design of such technologies.

The technical possibilities of medical technology are just beginning

"The power of modern IT technology is growing exponentially, countless studies show that medicine is just at the beginning of their technical capabilities," said Philip Boehme, in a press release from the University of Witten / Herdecke. He leads a course there on the digital transformation of the healthcare system. According to Boehme, high-tech care is only as good as the doctor who performs it. Therefore, physicians using such technology should have more than a basic understanding of it.

Rethinking starts at the university

"Medical studies at many universities have not yet adapted to the new developments," says Ehlers, Vice President of the University of Witten / Herdecke. Modern physicians would also urgently need the skills to critically question new methods in order to be able to assess benefits and risks. This requires a rethinking of the universities, which must prepare the students for the changed world of work.

Digitization in the study

The University of Witten / Herdecke would like to set a good example with the course "Digital Medicine - how data will change the way we treat". According to Ehlers, the course is multiprofessional and open to students from all study programs. The aim is to sensitize the students to the topic and to promote the reflected, interdisciplinary use of digital media. (Vb)