Digitization does not stop at the healthcare sector either.
Therefore, the Hospital Weilheim-Schongau GmbH has now invested 2.5 million euros in telemedicine support for the intensive care unit in Schongau.
County - There was much talk of a "milestone" when the new system was unveiled.
For the managing director Thomas Lippmann it is a "milestone for the Weilheim-Schongau GmbH hospital", for district administrator Andrea Jochner-Weiß even a "milestone in the digitization of the hospital sector".
What is meant is the new project that the Schongau hospital is launching in cooperation with the Hamburg start-up company TCC.
Why is?
Nothing more and nothing less than the digitization of the intensive care unit.
Put simply, there are two different projects that are mutually dependent.
Investment in millions at the Schongau hospital: Digitization of the intensive care unit
First of all, there is the “digital patient record”.
Anyone who has ever been to a hospital still knows the thick folder of medical records that you put on your stomach before you are wheeled into the operating theatre.
"It doesn't exist anymore," says Dr.
Florian Amor, senior physician in the intensive care unit in Schongau.
It was changed, a lot was invested in computer technology.
Now there is a file for each patient in which all findings and reports are summarized.
This also pleases the head of the nursing staff in the Schongau intensive care unit, Rick Breunig.
Previously, he and his colleagues had to copy the values from the devices once an hour, draw diagrams and then scan them in.
This will no longer be necessary in the future.
"We have more time to care for the patients," says Breunig.
This conversion was necessary anyway and was therefore also subsidized by the Free State.
But in Schongau they go even further and are the first hospital in Germany to fully cooperate with TCC.
The startup company offers a service that is not intended to replace doctors, but should offer a lot of additional security.
Now that all of the patient's data is recorded digitally, it can easily be transferred to TCC in Hamburg.
There, artificial intelligence (AI) constantly monitors the values transmitted by the devices to which the patients are connected, says founder and TCC boss Professor Christian Storm.
The doctor worked for a long time in the USA, where, according to him, telemedicine is much more advanced.
Artificial intelligence in the hospital: "Additional offer that greatly improves patient care"
The AI therefore constantly checks the patient data and immediately raises an alarm if a patient's condition gives cause for concern.
Then one of the doctors who work at TCC in Hamburg takes another quick look and, if the suspicion is confirmed, informs his colleagues in Schongau.
"TCC also offers medical expertise that we don't have locally," says Florian Amor clearly.
If there is a dermatological or rheumatological problem in the intensive care unit - a mouse click later you have a video conference with one of the Hamburg experts.
"This is an additional service that greatly improves patient care," says Amor.
And also offers more attractive working conditions for young residents, adds managing director Lippmann.
Especially at the beginning it is difficult for the young colleagues to do the night shift alone.
If you are unsure, you have to make the decision whether to ring the boss out of bed or decide for yourself.
Now the young residents can easily turn to an experienced colleague in Hamburg, who can immediately access all the data and give advice.
The district subsidizes 800,000 euros - full service for two years
The entire package costs 2.5 million euros.
1.7 million euros of this was available as funding, 800,000 euros were donated by the district.
This sum also includes the costs for the introduction of the digital patient file in the intensive care unit, according to Lippmann.
In addition, the full service is now available for two years.
"We'll see how it goes then," says District Administrator Jochner-Weiss.
(By the way: everything from the region is also in our regular Schongau newsletter. And in our Weilheim-Penzberg newsletter.)
The Weilheim hospital has not yet been converted.
Why is the money being invested in Schongau when the future of the house is being intensively discussed?
"With Dr.
Florian Amor, we had a doctor who is very open to new technology and gave us a lot of support," says Lippmann.
And: "Otherwise we are always accused of everything being pushed to Weilheim." Now Schongau was the first to come.