With the help of their electronic health insurance card and a smart phone, customers can pass electronic prescriptions to the Shop-Apotheke app. Alexander Braden, as Director Medication Management at Redcare Pharmacy, will be available for questions from an audience of professionals at the Tech Talk.
Robots can help in many ways
One feature of the digitalisation of healthcare is the use of robots. “Smart Robotics” is therefore the forum topic for the Tech Talk on Tuesday, 12 November, starting at 12:00 h. Dr. Manuel Ferla, TU Munich, School of Engineering and Design, is convinced that robot-assisted surgery provides doctors with valuable tools, which lessen the stress during surgery and which could lead to improved outcomes for patients. However, the volume of use regarding this new technology is still regarded as limited, due to the lack of integration into existing clinical procedures. Novel methods and technologies aim to improve system integration in order to realise an improved perspective for applications.
Lukas Bernhard, Scientific Head at the TUM University Hospital Klinikum rechts der Isar in Munich, has been part of the research group MITI and has worked on a robot that takes over various tasks during surgery in the unsterilised area. The robot fetches sterile materials – for example sutures or surgical gloves – from storage, delivers them to the operation theatre, opens the packaging and passes the sterile goods to the operating surgeon. In a current publication, Bernhard reports that such systems have the potential to become invaluable tools for overcoming a lack of trained staff and to rationalise work processes within healthcare. However, the challenges which result from the strict requirements inherent in a clinical environment, are large.
A special exhibition provides impulses for digital clinical networking
Clinical hospitals are currently facing thorough changes – brought about not least by the increasing concentration of medical treatments at specialised sites, the result of the hospital reform in Germany. In this context, digital networking and telemedicine will play an important part. How exactly this can happen is on view at the special exhibition `Hospital of the Future´ in an activity area in the MEDICA Hall 13 (booth C04). Here, decision makers from clinics will receive input and consultations regarding the following topics:
- Digital infrastructure in a hospital: finding trustworthy solutions for telecooperation,
- Intelligent summaries of and processed patient data in stead of manual documentation: efficient use of medical resources,
- Data driven telemedicine and artificial intelligence in intensive care medicine: Care for patients in a personalised and predictive manner,
- Far away yet with a close view of the patient: carrying out databased teleconsultations.
“Hospital of the Future” is organised by the German telemedical society “Deutsche Gesellschaft für Telemedizin e.V.” in cooperation with Messe Düsseldorf. Expert support on planning and implementation is provided by the German centre for telematics and telemedicine Zentrum für Telematik und Telemedizin GmbH (ZTG) and the Clinic for Surgical Intensive Medicine and Intermediate Care at the University Hospital RWTH Aachen. Visiting professionals at MEDICA 2024 and especially the delegates of the 47th German Hospital Conference, which for the first time will be held right in the middle of the trade fair in the neighbouring Hall 12, will have the opportunity to participate in exclusive guided tours through the special exhibition. They will be provided with an especially insightful option among many to gather information on the digitalisation of healthcare within this year’s MEDICA.
All information concerning the MEDICA HEALTH IT FORUM 2024 is available online at: https://www.medica-tradefair.com/mhif2.
Information on the MEDICA special exhibition `Hospital of the Future´: https://www.medica-tradefair.com/hotf2.
Author: Dr Lutz Retzlaff, medical journalist (Neuss)