The hospital of the future

While the "digital revolution" has changed large areas of business and everyday life in recent years, Internet and software-based solutions in medicine first raised concerns and skepticism. However, recently there has been a change of thinking. Terms such as "digital health" and "medicine 2.0" are discussed and officially used widely. Some people even propose that progress through digitization can be placed on the same level as the development of antibiotics. The Danish health system offers a glance into the near future. In spite of strict data protection guidelines, an electronic patient record system has been successfully used for several years. By 2020, health care should become further restructured and will be, above all, more innovative and digital.

An extension of the University Clinic in Aarhus has established a pilot project, with a special focus on the deployment of networked and database-based technologies. The project aims to optimize the internal hospital processes, develop a better handling of resources and increase cost-effectiveness. In addition, the employees, and notably the patients, should benefit from the improvement and acceleration of these processes.

The core system includes an internal hospital tracking, which facilitates the localization of people and devices. In the case of an emergency, the next available doctor can be alerted within a short time. Similarly, patients can be localized and their whereabouts can be easily clarified. Thanks to this localization device, unnecessary waiting and idle times are reduced. The system also allows the device to be requested at a particular time and location, therefore improving the planning capability of investigations and interventions. Delays due to missing documents are also a thing of the past, as they are digitally stored and can be retrieved at any time. Their in-house bed management system falls back on the location data. Free beds can be quickly localized and other processes, such as maintenance and disinfection, can be automated and accelerated. Achieving the effective occupancy of hospital beds contributes greatly to the cost-effectiveness of the clinic, without affecting patient care.

The clinic also plays a prominent role in the field of telemedicine. Currently, a corresponding project is being carried out with patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Thanks to the clinic’s telemedical approach, the frequency of hospital visits can be reduced. Patients no longer have to go at regular intervals to follow-up examinations in the clinic. Instead, they periodically fill out a questionnaire at home, which is sent to the clinic. Based on this data, a booking is only made if needed. Digitization holds enormous potential to revolutionize patient care in the near future through optimization and individualization, as well as lowering treatment costs. Even if the implementation of these examples is not possible in all countries, the Danish approach constitutes a model and a valuable source of experience for many other countries.

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