Medicine

The future ofmedicine

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Would you have a microchip inserted into your brain if it could repair brain damage?

Yes No

There are in fact researchers who are already working on this technology. In the future, they are hoping it will enable them to lessen the effects of brain diseases, visual disorders, paralysis, and depression.

Next question (2 of 5)

Would you have a transplant using an artificial organ printed in a 3D printer?

Yes No

Scientists worldwide are working on a number of research projects to reproduce human tissue, bones, skin or even entire organs in a kind of 3D printer.

Next question (3 of 5)

Would you ask a hospital chat robot questions about your diagnosis rather than waiting for the doctors to visit you?

Yes No

Initial applications of this kind already exist. Chat robots based on artificial intelligence could relieve the strain on doctors in the future by providing patients and their families with information.

Next question (4 of 5)

Would you allow your surgeon located 1,000 km away and controlling the scalpel via the internet to operate on you?

Yes No

The rollout of new 5G network technology means this scenario is no longer the stuff of science fiction. In fact, the first live operation via the internet was performed in 2019.

Last question (5 of 5)

Would you allow a robot to operate on you?

Yes No

Ultramodern robots are already assisting surgeons. Some experts believe that surgeons could become superfluous for certain operations in the future.

Again

Would you have a microchip inserted into your brain if it could repair brain damage?

Would you have a transplant using an artificial organ printed in a 3D printer?

Scientists worldwide are working on a number of research projects to reproduce human tissue, bones, skin or even entire organs in a kind of 3D printer.

Would you ask a hospital chat robot questions about your diagnosis rather than waiting for the doctors to visit you?

Would you allow your surgeon located 1,000 km away and controlling the scalpel via the internet to operate on you?

The rollout of new 5G network technology means this scenario is no longer the stuff of science fiction. In fact, the first live operation via the internet was performed in 2019.

Would you allow a robot to operate on you?

Ultramodern robots are already assisting surgeons. Some experts believe that surgeons could become superfluous for certain operations in the future.

Digitalization is rapidly revolutionizing the health care system. Scientists are currently conducting research into treatments that, until recently, sounded like something out of a science fiction movie. Let’s take a look at the opportunities and risks of the digital revolution in medicine.

The opportunities …

Over the past 150 years, medical progress has brought us breakthroughs such as the invention of X-ray technology, the discovery of penicillin, and the first organ transplants. Many experts believe that far greater progress awaits in the years ahead.

1Medical research

High-performance computers can evaluate huge volumes of data in no time at all (this is called “big data”) and, by doing so, help speed up the development of new treatments or drugs. Thanks to big data, researchers in the USA have discovered that a drug used for patients with depression could also help treat a specific form of lung cancer for example.

2Preventing diseases

Imagine wearing a tiny device on your body that analyzes your genetic predisposition, your physical condition, and your behavior. It could raise the alarm before you suffer a heart attack or develop diabetes. Although no such device exists as yet, today’s smartwatches can already warn wearers if, for instance, they have an irregular heartbeat.

3Better health and well-being

If you live in the countryside or on an island, the family doctor is often some distance away. Telemedicine offers a solution in such cases. Cutting-edge blood pressure devices and pacemakers can automatically transmit data to the doctor, while video consultations help decide whether an actual visit is necessary.

4Accurate diagnoses

Artificial intelligence (AI) analyzes large quantities of data in fractions of seconds. For instance, AI could compare X-rays or CT scans in global databases and help achieve a reliable diagnosis far faster. According to initial studies, for example, AI can help doctors detect skin cancer using photos of suspicious changes to the skin.

5Improved therapies

Digitalization promises many new treatment options in the future. A few examples are robots that help with operations, tiny microrobots that move through our bloodstream recording values such as blood pressure, and the use of virtual reality to treat diseases such as dementia or Parkinson’s.

6More efficient workflows

State-of-the-art technology is already relieving the strain on staff at medical practices and hospitals. Digital treatment and patient data is available at the touch of a button, and medical devices can be equipped with tiny transmitters so that everyone always knows exactly where they are currently in use. All kinds of other possibilities are also conceivable in the future, such as robots reliably taking blood samples from patients.

7Better nursing care

In the case of nursing and geriatric care, too, robots controlled by AI could take over heavy physical work such as washing, turning, and lifting patients. This would give nursing staff more time to attend to individual patient needs. Rehabilitation robots that help stroke victims, for example, regain their mobility are another potential application.

8Risk and side effects

Does this technological progress therefore really promise mankind the chance of a longer, healthier life? Or should we be worried that the technology will be misused? Risks and side effects cannot be ruled out when it comes to the digital future of medicine.

… and the risks

Despite all of the advantages, we cannot lose sight of the risks associated with the digitalization of the healthcare sector.

1Farewell to privacy?

Health is a private matter. Our health data accompanies us throughout our lives and is not interchangeable. None of us would want it to influence employers’ staffing decisions or be used by insurance companies to calculate their premiums, so it must be clearly regulated who is allowed to access which data – and who isn’t. This is a task for companies and, above all, for legislators.

2Hacker attacks on our health?

Health data is valuable. Hackers can steal sensitive data and hold the victims to ransom. They can also put people’s lives at risk by paralyzing the infrastructure of hospitals or medical practices. When developing new health system technologies, it is therefore vital to include effective IT security solutions in the planning from the outset.

3Is technology infallible?

To err is human, as the saying goes, which means artificial intelligence is not infallible either. Algorithms learn using the data provided and recognize patterns in this data. The quality of the algorithm’s results ultimately depends on how it is trained – by humans. The criteria based on which algorithms make decisions must therefore meet ethical and legal requirements.

4Do robots make you lonely?

No machine can replace human contact, and such contact is particularly important to people who are old or sick. Consequently, robots can complement doctors, nurses, and carers, but not replace them. Clear rules are required for their use to ensure technical progress does not exacerbate the problem of loneliness.

What next?

Scientists, doctors, politicians, IT experts, ethicists, and patient representatives must work together to ensure full use of all the opportunities digitalization offers and make progress while also minimizing the risks.

What next?

This entails a number of basic prerequisites

1Discussing ethical matters

How much digitalization do we want to allow in the health sector? How can we ensure the focus is always on human well-being? Questions of this kind need to be discussed in a wide social dialog and joint solutions found.

2Breaking down technical barriers

The prerequisites in this case are an extensive high-performance network infrastructure and cutting-edge technology in both health care institutions and private households.

3Ensuring security

Everyone has the right to protection of their personal data. This must be ensured – and not only with technological means. We need legal conditions that minimize the risk of data misuse without impeding progress.

4Building up expertise

Innovative technologies can only realize their full potential if all users handle them correctly. Medical staff in particular must be given comprehensive training on the use of new technologies.

We need to talk about exactly what digital responsibility can look like. No one individual can decree it – no one company, no one institution, no one government. We can only develop digital responsibility together. Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges

Right in the living room

“Your vitals are fine. You don’t need to worry.” Karin Müller is relieved about the good news from her family doctor. She signs off and switches off the tablet PC. That’s because she’s sitting in her living room and has just had a video chat with her doctor.

The future is now

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly limited and even shut down public life across several months. In some areas, however, the virus made things move faster, and that includes the digitalization of the health care system. According to a study conducted in spring 2020 by the Health Innovation Hub of Germany’s Federal Ministry of Health and the Public Health Foundation, 52.3 percent of doctors surveyed offered video consultations. This compares with a figure of just 1.8 percent in 2017. Psychotherapists, physicians in private practice, and general practitioners are making particular use of such consultations.

**The digital way through the crisis**
Video consultations, online shopping, and working and learning at home can make our everyday lives easier in times of crisis. Even during such periods, we at Deutsche Telekom want everyone to be able to #TAKEPART. More information is available here.

Digital solutions for the health system

From hospital management systems and telemedicine platforms to electronic health cards and the Corona-Warn-App for contact tracing, Deutsche Telekom offers a whole host of solutions for the health care system.

For the benefit of patients

Clever solutions are helpful in an emergency or even prevent diseases. Digital platforms also make work easier for doctors and care staff.

1Emergency call via your smartwatch

Fast help is important in the event of a fall or acute health problems. For these emergencies, we offer a special smartwatch with safety functions. Using an alarm button on your wrist, you can, e.g., call relatives or inform the professional first aid workers from Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe (the German St. John’s Ambulance).

2Timely stroke diagnosis

Using Apoplex Medical Technologies’ stroke risk analysis (SRA), patients can be tested for undetected atrial fibrillation. By doing so, the risk of a stroke can be detected early on and reduced using therapeutic measures. SRA is run in the Deutsche Telekom Healthcare Cloud, thereby meeting European data protection regulations.

3Central access to COVID-19 study data

Doctors are researching the long-term effects of COVID-19. We make their work easier with our creation, TrialComplete. This data management system is used across Europe and allows researchers to centrally access medical study data. As a result, they can share information faster, access results more easily, and link individual studies to one another. TrialComplete saves the data in the Telekom Healthcare Cloud.

4Connected work in South African hospitals

The hospital information system from Telekom Healthcare, iMedOne, forms the basis for connected work in hospitals. In South Africa, the international version of the system is already being used in four hospitals in the Western Cape region.

5Electronic health records in Africa

Together with IBM and Capsule Technologies, we developed the first mobile digital patient record for Africa. It not only contains important patient data, it can also automatically record data from medical equipment such as ventilators or dialysis machines.

Everything is connected …

Nobody likes going to hospital, especially when medical staff are overworked and there are long waiting times. By supporting these staff, intelligent hospital systems such as iMedOne from Deutsche Telekom can help improve patient care. By the end of 2021, iMedOne was already installed in some 240 hospitals in Germany, where it allows all key processes to be digitized. Treatment and patient data is shared via our secure data networks in full compliance with data protection regulations, is available to all treating physicians and care staff at the touch of a button on the iMedOne Mobile app, and does not get lost. In addition, iMedOne meets all the requirements of the Hospital Future Act (Krankenhauszukunftsgesetz).

Corona-Warn-App

How helpful digitalization can be in the healthcare field is illustrated by the contact tracing apps that are being used in the COVID-19 pandemic. This technology can be used in conjunction with other measures to restrict the pandemic. A 2020 study by Oxford University has concluded that – statistically speaking – one infection will be averted for every one to two users. This means the more people use these apps, the faster chains of infection can be broken and lives can be saved.

Together with SAP, we developed the Corona warning app on behalf of the German government. By the end of 2021, over 39.5 million people in Germany had already downloaded the app. Using a special Bluetooth technology, the app detects other nearby smartphones that also have the contact tracing app installed. When two devices get within 2 m of each other, for a defined period of time, they exchange an encrypted code that they then save for a two-week period. When a person tests positively for COVID-19, they can voluntarily enter this result in the app. Then, other app-equipped persons who came close to that infected person receive a warning on their smartphone. Thanks to the encryption technology used, no one ever knows who the infected person is or where and when they were near that person. The data remains anonymous and is kept locally on their cell phones.

Since 2021, the app can also display the EU’s digital vaccination certificate.

In terms of privacy and data protection, the Corona-Warn-App was given top marks in the security tests. A test conducted by the trade journal “connect” found both versions of the operating system – Android and iOS – to have a very high level of security.

More about digitalization in times of crisis

All on one card …

Most of us already have one in our wallets: the electronic health card. It stores our insurance master data. Since 2019, emergency information and a medication plan have also been stored on this card. Electronic prescriptions and other health data are potential further inclusions for the future. Since 2019, Deutsche Telekom has been offering medical staff a starter package for outpatient and inpatient care. It enables them to connect to the nationwide IT infrastructure for the health card. The complete package contains everything a practice or hospital needs for a secure connection to the infrastructure. In 2019, telemedicine applications for aftercare of stroke patients were also connected to the telematics infrastructure for the first time. All products are subject to the rigorous review of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) or approval from gematik (Gesellschaft für Telematikanwendungen der Gesundheitskarte mbH), a company dealing with the application of telematics in the public health system.

No chance of drugs interacting with one another

Anyone who has to regularly take different medicines will already know that doctors and pharmacists must always know exactly which medication is being taken in order to avoid dangerous interactions. Since July 2020, medical practices and pharmacies have been able to create and edit an electronic medication plan on the patient’s electronic health card for those who are on three or more different kinds of medication and give their permission for such a plan. The aim of the electronic medication plan is to provide more security. To exchange the digital data securely, the hospitals, practices, and pharmacies are connected to a central telematics infrastructure. Connectors coordinate and encrypt the communication and ensure a secure transmission of the sensitive patient information. “gematik”, a company controlled by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Health, is responsible for establishing the new, digital structures in the healthcare sector. Deutsche Telekom’s iMedOne® hospital information system also includes a function for the electronic medication plan. gematik has assessed this function and confirmed that iMedOne® is one of the first hospital information systems in Germany that complies with the interface for the telematics infrastructure.

“Comprehensive digital access to patient information while complying with the strict health data protection regulations is the basic prerequisite for the digitalization of the healthcare system.” Dirk Hoffmann – product owner of the electronic medication plan at Deutsche Telekom

The all-important web

Fast, high-performance internet access is essential for digitizing health care, so we are investing billions in network expansion every year. 5G, the new mobile communications standard, offers tremendous potential. Thanks to the high-performance and failsafe internet connections, data can be transmitted in real time – a key factor, especially in emergencies. The technology is already being used in the 5G campus network at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB). Coverage for several hospital buildings is ensured through the use of indoor antennas. For instance, X-ray and MRI images are quickly and securely transmitted to various sites at the University Hospital Bonn via the 5G network. As a result, experts who are not on site can be consulted without delay and patients can be properly treated more quickly. You can read more about network expansion here.

Digital ethics

Dialog about digital ethics in society is important to us: In 2019, we founded the Forum for Digital Ethics – a platform where the general public and experts from the world of science, business, and politics can discuss digital responsibility – for that purpose.

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the on-site presentations had to be canceled. However, interested parties can perform a virtual 360-degree tour of the Forum for Digital Ethics or participate in guided events with subsequent discussion rounds.

In 2018, we were one of the first companies in the world to set our own guidelines for the ethical use of AI. They provide clear guidance for our developers and designers, but also our suppliers and partners. To ensure the development of AI meets our high ethical standards in the supply chain as well, we enshrined the basic contents of our AI guidelines in our “Supplier Code of Conduct” in 2020. In 2021, we prepared the “Professional ethics guide”, which helps to translate our AI guidelines into specific projects. More information about AI is available here.

Digital health programs at Deutsche Telekom

Not only do we develop solutions for doctor’s offices or hospitals, we also offer digital health services to our employees. These include, for instance, first-aid apps or offerings related to nutrition, sleep, stress, and digital balance. The MyHealth Journey health program for emotional and mental fortitude, which was launched in 2020, has various offerings such as webinars, online meditations, podcasts, and lecture recordings on the issue of mindfulness. These offerings help our employees to strengthen their individual health. Further details about our health programs for staff are available here.

The immune system for data

If digitalization in the health care system is to be a success, it is vital for people to be confident about the protection and security of sensitive data. Data privacy and data security therefore have top priority in e-health applications. To ensure that medical practices, hospitals, and health insurance companies do not become targets of cybercrime, and just as with health protection, we focus on two aspects – prevention and control – by simulating cyberattacks, for instance. Our “good guys” employ the same hacking methods that professional attackers use. This allows us to identify and close security gaps. If an attack does still occur, however, our emergency team from the Incident Response Service is ready. It is on standby around the clock and, in an emergency, can immediately investigate and help anywhere in the world – by telephone, email or even on site. If necessary, we also secure digital evidence so that it can be used later on in court. You can find detailed information about data protection and data security here.

Contents

The opportunities …

1Medical research

2Preventing diseases

3Better health and well-being

4Accurate diagnoses

5Improved therapies

6More efficient workflows

7Better nursing care

8Risk and side effects

… and the risks

1Farewell to privacy?

2Hacker attacks on our health?

3Is technology infallible?

4Do robots make you lonely?

This entails a number of basic prerequisites

1Discussing ethical matters

2Breaking down technical barriers

3Ensuring security

4Building up expertise

Right in the living room

The future is now

For the benefit of patients

1Emergency call via your smartwatch

2Timely stroke diagnosis

3Central access to COVID-19 study data

4Connected work in South African hospitals

5Electronic health records in Africa

Everything is connected …

Corona-Warn-App

All on one card …

No chance of drugs interacting with one another

The all-important web

Digital ethics

Digital health programs at Deutsche Telekom

The immune system for data

The immune system for data