There is a German idiom that every physician learns during his medical training. In English it can be translated as follows: Don’t make a diagnosis via phone or without examining the patient properly (the original German idiom refers to the patient’s pants – in other words – he has to be undressed). What about Dr. Google, though? I have to admit; I also tend to ask the search engine before I go to the doctor’s. Digitalization has arrived in healthcare a long time ago, but where is the limit? Or are we eventually not going to the doctor’s anymore and trust on virtual diagnosis? In this article, we want to take a look at the new possibilities arising through the combination of IT and healthcare more closely.

Thanks to the internet, we are always well prepared these days. Before we try a new restaurant, we look up the menu online. Before our next vacation, we check TripAdvisor and Holidaycheck until we are happy with our choice. Of course, healthcare is no exception. Online portals like NetDoktor or Jameda even evaluate physicians. Moreover, in numerous forums, patients and physicians exchange treatment methods and interpret symptoms. A survey of our client Nuance Communication shows that 40 percent of the patients get information online before their doctor’s appointment (the survey was carried out among 3000 patients of different age groups in Germany, the UK and the US).

In hospitals, the digitalization should enable all eligible employees to access all necessary data from anywhere anytime through a system with a uniform interface. The ideal physician with a digital file in his coat is omnipresent, but not yet reality. Tablets are used more and more in hospitals, but a comprehensive wireless infrastructure would be necessary to keep them updated, which strongly depends on the structural conditions. Frankly speaking, the infrastructure does not exist everywhere yet. The legal requirements for the documentation of the patient data, which physicians and nursing staff have to fulfil, are immense and time-consuming. Every facilitation and acceleration of the work is appreciated. By the way, so it is with the patients. The survey mentioned above also showed that 97 percent are comfortable with the use of technology in the treatment room.

Furthermore, the frequently quoted Internet of Things has arrived in healthcare. Numerous start-ups are contributing to this new health-tech-trend. According to the research center Rock Health only in the US 4.3 billion Dollar venture funding was realized in 2015. In particular, one trend seems to be dominating: products which analyze your body. Researchers are forecasting that in future we won’t focus on treating diseases once they have broken out, we will rather focus on preventing them and on a healthier life instead. Right now, especially the younger generation follows this trend: More and more frequently we see activity trackers on their wrists from popular brands like Fitbit, Garmin or Jawbone. Currently there is an intense discussion about the use of the monitoring data on sleep, movement and eating habits by the health insurance companies which also subsidize the purchase of the trackers. The global prospects for wearables are very good: In the second quarter 2015 alone, 18 Mio. wearables have been sold, still rising, as this statistic shows.

Another key aspect of the trend are healthcare apps. A well-known example is mySugr, an app which tries to make life easier for diabetes patients. Blood sugar levels can be recorded and analyzed. Especially in Germany, the trend of gaining such large amounts of data through apps and fitness trackers is watched with suspicion. Nevertheless, there is a huge potential for research in there and a big facilitation since the data acquisition for surveys gets a lot easier this way.

Where are the limits of the increasing digitalization? What is technology allowed to do? Especially in the very sensitive area of healthcare these questions play a much bigger role than they do within the connected working environment. Obviously, technology can’t replace regular doctor’s appointments. But it makes it easier for us to live a healthier life and to get a better understanding of what our body needs. Digitalization offers many advantages for physicians and researchers, especially in terms of facilitating their daily work. They save valuable time from which in the end we, the patients, benefit the most.