| Popis: |
In Germany there are now many successful special applications of telemedicine. However, these projects are mostly not extendable to the whole nation because of the highly complex German healthcare system, limited funding, heterogeneous information technology (IT) standards in ambulatory and hospital care, the insufficient official electronic health card, different data protection and privacy regulations of federal and state governments, doubts of physicians and patients, as well as unequal costs and benefits for the different actors in telemedicine. The solutions of these problems are: better legal regulations for seamless interaction of ambulatory and hospital care, improved IT standards and support of the interoperability of telemedical and other healthcare IT, adaption of healthcare organization, workflow, and reimbursement for telemedicine services, and better information and education of all actors about the necessity and limits of telemedicine. There are no doubts about the benefits of telemedicine, but to achieve these advantages for the whole healthcare system in Germany will require much work, time, and good will. |
