VISUS Health IT • 13.11.2024 • Stories

Ready to Dive into the Data Pool?

  • VISUS VIEW 29 - Auf in den Datenpool

Will 2025 be the year digital medicine finally breaks through? With political support at its peak , the secondary use of data and its AI-powered analysis are increasingly viewed as a magic formula for progress. Here’s the latest update on the topic —and how we’re helping our clients make the most of the data pool.

The Federal Minister of Health shared his aspiring vision at the recent annual conference of the Vision Zero Initiative held in Berlin — an initiative which aims to reduce the number of preventable cancer-related deaths as close to zero as possible. Professor Karl Lauterbach announced  that Germany will soon have "the largest curated and structured dataset in Europe, possibly even worldwide." This statement, reflecting such recent policies as the Digital Act (DigiG) and Health Data Use Act (GDNG), captures the ambition driving a movement that is already well underway.  

New Laws, New Opportunities 

After years of what seemed like a digital slumber, Germany is now moving forward at full speed. The introduction of electronic patient records in early 2025 will have a noticeable impact on all patients and will likely shape public debate for the foreseeable future. In total, over half a dozen national and European digital laws have either been passed or are awaiting final approval.

At the top of the priority list is maximizing the potential of data . New possibilities created by artificial intelligence, particularly in combination with the vast amounts of biomarker data from wearables, smartwatches, and apps, are fueling innovative ideas for a patient-centered approach to healthcare. Radiology plays an essential role in this transformation, as it is “evolving from an imaging center into a hub for prediction and decision-making with regard to treatment,” notes Dr. Märc Kämmerer, Head of Innovation Management.

"Data Protection Isn’t a Complete Roadblock"

So, what about data protection? Even the “infamous elephant in the room that data-centric health experts have long viewed as the biggest obstacle to digitalization” (FAZ) no longer seems capable of slowing digital progress. There are growing signs that the balance between data protection and data usability is being redefined. This shift is also apparent in public attitudes, with many people realizing during the COVID-19 pandemic that sharing health data can benefit public welfare. In a recent interview, Professor Dr. Sebastian Kuhn, head of the Institute for Digital Medicine at University Hospital Giessen-Marburg, went so far as to call the pandemic a “digital meteor strike.” 

The same applies to the relationship between data protection and the economy: For some start-ups, constructive and supportive attitudes from local data protection authorities have become a key factor in choosing their base of operations. 'Data protection doesn’t stand in the way of all the research we’d like to pursue,' remarked Professor Dr. Louisa Sprecht-Riemenschneider, a legal scholar from the University of Bonn, at the launch of the Transdisciplinary Center for Medical Data Usability and Translation (ZMDT). Her statement carries significant weight, as Dr. Sprecht-Riemenschneider has also served in the role of Germany's Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information since last September.

Ready to jump into the data pool?

Into the Cloud in Just Twelve Months 

So, is everything ready for the leap into the data pool? The reality is a bit more complex. While terms like interoperability and standardization have become political catchphrases, the actual implementation of these concepts remains inconsistent. And centralizing data — essential for a fully digital healthcare ecosystem — is still in its early stages. However, some of our clients are inspiring progress and serve as examples of what’s possible. 

One example is the Mainschleife Specialty Clinic in Volkach, Bavaria, which migrated its entire IT infrastructure to a cloud platform in just twelve months. This transition included around 30 applications and workloads, including JiveX Enterprise PACS and JiveX Healthcare Content Management. Similarly, the Evidia Group, a leading European radiology network with 140 locations, is taking a major step in its cloud strategy by partnering with us. Evidia is our first client to use the new storage API of the JiveX Archive Manager (introduced with JiveX 5.6) at its German sites, which allows for  native archiving of images and data with relevant cloud and storage providers. 

What a modern data infrastructure with on-premises storage can look like is demonstrated by Sana Kliniken AG. As Germany’s third-largest private hospital group, it relies on JiveX HCM as the data backbone — a centralized IHE repository that connects over 40 Sana hospitals as part of the rollout of the "My Sana" project. The aim is to create a digital record of the entire treatment journey for approximately three million patients each year, with a focus on expanding outpatient services and integrated cross-sector care.

“Plug-and-Play PACS” 

In the coming years, cloud migration is likely to be the path for most of our clients. JiveX 5.6 offers an initial vendor-neutral interface solution, with more advanced options in the pipeline, as our CEO Andreas Kaysler clarifies: “Our next step is to provide cloud services — either on our own or in partnership with platforms — that enable our clients to optimize their workflows and drastically reduce their reliance on local infrastructure, storage capacity, and personnel resources.” Kaysler sums up the vision for the near future as “PACS from the socket.” 

Once data is fully centralized, secure and simultaneous access from any location becomes effortless. This opens new possibilities for doctor-patient communication and medical collaboration. With this foundation in place, data could also be made available to researchers, clinicians, and other stakeholders for further use, turning it into an asset while ultimately improving patient care in a sustainable way.

Our strategy is also a response to the economic realities underlying these ambitious goals. On one hand, data storage costs and associated services are expected to rise soon, which could potentially outweigh the efficiency gains cloud solutions currently offer. “On the other hand,” says Andreas Kaysler, “the landscape of hospitals will likely look very different in a few years as current reforms increase the demand for standardized processes — including in radiology.” For those  venturing into the data pool, this means that starting now, perhaps by initiating data migration, will eliminate the need for life jackets when the tide shifts in the future.