Hinder big data? No, better to become a part of it and ensure that it is used sensibly! Collecting and saving data, linking various sets of data as well as using and applying them also promise a great deal of progress in the field of medicine. However, they also bring about ethical and legal challenges. Just recently, the chairperson of the German Ethics Board, Professor Christiane Woopen made the following appeal: "Let’s work together so that people do not leave each other behind due to their sense of self-perception and lifestyle being characterized by biological elements and numbers, as well as on account of the efficiency hype and mania posed by optimization, but allow them to come together with fulfilled lives.” It became clear in a symposium: The EU Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, Günther Oettinger, is responsible for shaping the conditions in Europe in such a way that, on the one hand, big data is identified as a European research task and an engine for development within the field of health services and, on the other hand, possible dangers are averted. At a symposium of the ethics committee Günter Oettinger stated: "Technology can be designed. Prohibiting it and delaying it will not be possible." He has been asked to attend the MEDICA HEALTH IT FORUM. It is already certain that Professor Eckhard Nagel, member of the German Ethics Committee, will host the forum topic “Big Data".

Contacting a doctor via video conference
Naturally, the relationship of a patient to his doctor will not remain unaffected by this digital revolution. Telemedical consultation is an example of this. It is still not welcomed everywhere – nevertheless, it is also gaining in significance, particularly in rural areas. Dr. Franz-Joseph Bartmann, chairman of the telematics committee of the German Medical Association, has explained that the application "Patientus" is largely accepted in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Physicians can offer this to their patients as an integral part of medical-practice software. "Patientus" functions in a simple way: A patient can contact his physician from anywhere and any place within the scope of a private video conference. Thereby, the medical video conference between the doctor and patient cannot and should not replace a regular visit to the doctor’s office, but provide these visits with an optimal level of preparation, practically complementing them. In this way, the personal contact between patients looking for help and professionally competent doctors is made possible independent of location. The physical examination as well as the follow-up treatment still takes place at the doctor’s office. This project will be presented within the scope of the MEDICA HEALTH IT FORUM.

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