Health Technologies

In our research on digital health technologies in 2022, we have identified three trends:

Trend 1: Health data and its processing

• Health data is collected both in medical institutions and in the private sector via fitness apps and trackers.
• While health data is considered useful for prevention and diagnostics, it is also valuable for other areas of application. However, commercial use in particular can conflict with the interests of the individuals concerned.
• As health data is often not adequately protected against unauthorised access, there is a significant risk of misuse.
• There is a need for applications that enable secure and transparent data storage and transfer.

Trend 2: Digital health applications and digital medical devices

• Health applications can be used, for example, to support a health-conscious lifestyle, remind people of doctor's appointments or medication intake or support medical diagnosis and treatment.
• Medical apps must be approved, certified and, in order to be prescribed, must also be demonstrably medically effective. Although this puts the threshold for developers relatively high and doctors, patients and health insurance companies tend to be sceptical towards medical apps, these applications are expected to become increasingly widespread.
• Smaller open source applications can address niches in the healthcare sector that do not require certification, enable modular use of various functions and create trust by disclosing the source code.

Trend 3: Digital administration in the medical sector and in medicalf acilities

• In medical facilities, software for the documentation of care and treatment services, for example, promises to reduce the workload of hospital staff and thus free up more time for personal treatment.
• When healthcare technologies are used in treatment, good communication between care staff and medical knowledge of the respective patients is essential in order to be able to deal with technical failures.
• To ensure that medical staff are sufficiently informed, relevant information must be easy to find. Open source software offers a cost-effective way of integrating medical technology into existing systems via open interfaces.

You can find the full report (in German) here.

Support for a health-conscious life or assistance with diagnosis and treatment

• MedAbb - medical abortion accompany
• Co-Response
• Digitales Wartezimmer UX
• drip und drip - Anpassbare mobile Tracking-App für Menstruationsgesundheit mit Sicherheit & Privatsphäre
• Eye Skills und Eye Skills at Home
• MentalMentor
• Monk
• Recovery Cat
• Trustping - secure connections, for people with cancer

Relieving medical staff of administrative tasks

• Blue Light Planner
• CoopCare
• HelferHände
• ImmunHelden
• Kailona
• Clinic-DB
• Krankheitsabrechnung zurück in Ärzt*innenhand
• match4healthcare
• Neue Digitale Patientenverfügung: Transparent und interoperabel
• PAID - Care Billing in Germany

• Public Interest Podcast – Open Source und Gesundheit (11.11.2021, German)