Roland Berger Hospital IT Monitor 2024

By Janes Grotelueschen

This year's Roland Berger Hospital IT Monitor examined how far Germany's hospitals have progressed in the procurement and implementation of digital patient portals, which telematics applications are used most frequently and what the hospitals' level of networking and mobile documentation is like. In July and August 2024, the management and IT directors of hospitals of various sizes in Germany were surveyed for this purpose.

Every second hospital has currently procured a patient portal

One of the most important results: More than half of the clinics have already procured a digital patient portal in accordance with Funding Subject (FTB) 2 of the Hospital Future Act (KHZG). When implementing the patient portal, the majority of respondents rely on the expertise of specialized providers. This reflects the increasing move away from monolithic hospital information systems in favour of specialized providers for the desired function (best-of-breed).

TI solutions: ePrescription, eAU and VSDM are used the most

As part of the telematics infrastructure (TI), the clinics surveyed primarily use applications such as the electronic prescription (ePrescription), the electronic certificate of incapacity for work (eAU) and the insured persons' master data management (VSDM). Despite the fact that some implementation deadlines have already passed, not all hospitals have yet implemented all functions. The respondents also report low usage rates. Reasons for this include the user-friendliness of the TI solutions and compatibility with the existing IT infrastructure.

The importance of networks continues to grow

The survey showed that networking between hospitals is becoming increasingly important. Currently, three out of four hospitals are already part of multicenter or intersectoral networks and participate in digital multicenter collaborations (e.g. virtual tumor conferences and teleconsultations) as well as networks to create data and research infrastructures.

Interoperability: Clinical Data Repository as a basis

Only a third of the participating hospitals currently use a Clinical Data Repository (CDR) to collect, store and manage clinical data from various sources and thus provide a comprehensive database for medical analyses and decision-making processes. This shows that large hospitals currently use CDR systems three times more frequently than small and medium-sized facilities. Due to lower human and financial resources and the complexity of implementation, smaller hospitals are more reluctant, while the need to manage large amounts of data efficiently is driving implementation in larger facilities.

Staff shortages and a lack of standards are slowing down networking

The hospitals surveyed cited high costs for programming and procuring interfaces as one of the biggest challenges when networking systems and clinical facilities internally. Because many providers continue to use proprietary standards, interfaces either have to be purchased at great expense or programmed by third parties. Overall, a lack of standards - in addition to a lack of personnel and time - are cited as the causes of incomplete networking.

Mobile documentation: Tablets conquer everyday hospital life

Almost seven out of ten of the hospitals surveyed state that they already use tablets to document their care and treatment. According to the respondents, the biggest advantage of using mobile devices is that data can be accessed at any time and from anywhere. This leads to a considerable acceleration of processes.

Mobile documentation: Apple dominates

Apple is the clear favorite in the field of mobile documentation: more than half of the hospitals surveyed use both tablets from the US manufacturer and iOS-based applications in their day-to-day clinical work.

Digital change: the pressure to act is growing

In order to take advantage of the opportunities offered by digitalization and manage the growing volumes of data, hospitals need a comprehensive data strategy in addition to an IT/digital strategy. This forms the basis for the efficient management, use and protection of data. At the same time, hospitals should make targeted investments in IT infrastructures such as WLAN, networks and information security in order to ensure stable system operation and minimize IT outages and cyberattacks. Equally important is the targeted promotion of interfaces and interoperability to enable smooth collaboration. Participation in collaborations is also becoming increasingly important for hospitals, not only to exploit synergies and share knowledge, but also to strengthen cross-sector care in the long term.

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