IT / Documentation

The documentation and organization of patient services is demanding ever more time and resources of skilled employees in the healthcare sector. This is a three-tiered problem: it is a problem in terms of economics, of motivation and quality. IT solutions can effectively optimize processes in the healthcare market and may result in new treatment options. Less time on documentation equals more time for  patients – and lower costs: these are the objectives of technical innovations, such as electronic patient files, paper-free surgery visits, real-time planning and documentation systems for surgery, telematics etc. Mobile healthcare, for example, facilitates the provision of technical solutions for 24-hour patient treatment, regardless of the location. This enormous increase in the patient’s quality of life is also of great economic benefit to the healthcare system. According to a study by McKinsey, annual treatment costs for patients could be reduced by 30 percent through mobile healthcare, since at least 10 to 20 percent of chronically ill patients could be released sooner. Innovations such as real-time planning and documentation systems allow costs in the hospital system to be cut, since operating theaters can be used more effectively thanks to optimized organization of procedures. Against this background, IT/documentation should be seen as an important socio-political and economic link with medicine.