Status: 07/06/2021 3:34 p.m.
As in the healthcare sector, many things are now set to become more digital in nursing. That could take some of the workload off the nursing staff – but does it also solve the problem of a lack of recognition?
Home manager Monja Lautersbach would like to spare her geriatric nurses some tasks. For example: If a new resident comes to your home from the hospital, he brings a printed discharge report with him. “We all have to enter this data and information into our system,” says the manager of the senior citizen center “An der Parkinsel” in Ludwigshafen. 146 elderly people are cared for here by around 70 nursing staff.
“The transfer is prone to errors, and there are work steps where I think: Why should we type all of this again now?” Not infrequently, copying is very time-consuming because older people have had many diagnoses and treatments in their lives. All of this takes time, believes the home manager. Time that your caregivers would rather spend with the elderly.
Maintenance on the information superhighway
Communication with doctors and pharmacies is not much better, according to the home manager. Most of them still run via fax. Because not every handwriting is legible, one then has to ask – otherwise errors will occur. “It would be so much easier if we could access a common platform where everyone has the latest information,” said Lautersbach.
Such platforms are still a long way off. But they should come, albeit initially as a test in a model project that aims to connect inpatient and outpatient care facilities to the telematics infrastructure (TI). The TI is a kind of information superhighway for healthcare, explains Thorsten Blocher, Business Development Manager at CompuGroupMedical, who claims to be one of the leading eHealth companies worldwide. This “Autobahn” is operated by gematik GmbH. In addition to the Federal Ministry of Health, its shareholders include the umbrella organization for statutory health insurance as well as representatives of doctors, dentists and pharmacists.
“Safe as a registered mail”
Instead of fax or e-mail, care facilities will in future communicate with doctors’ practices or clinics via the KIM specialist service. KIM stands for “communication in medicine”. It works just as easily as a conventional mail program, but is much more secure. “That corresponds to a registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt, and the contents in the envelope are all encrypted. Even if you open the envelope, you cannot do anything with it, unless you are the sender or recipient,” explains Blocher. In the future, electronic patient files, e-prescriptions and electronic certificates of incapacity for work (EAU) should also be processed via the data highway.
The DOMICIL senior residences, to which the facility in Ludwigshafen belongs, have also applied for the model project. By 2024, the participating institutions are to test how digital care documentation works, which hardware (tablets or smartphones) is required for this and whether this actually results in the time savings that were hoped for. Ten million euros in federal funds are to be made available for this. The model projects are scientifically monitored and evaluated. Steffi Neumann, quality manager at DOMICIL senior citizens’ residences in Hamburg, knows that nurses are very willing to participate in the pilot project in their facilities.
Care needs quality standards
Christine Vogler, President of the German Care Council, fears that the introduction of digital systems could be more about efficiency and cost savings than about quality and the best possible care for those in need of care. “If one documentation system replaces another, is now only digital and has no added value, then you have to ask yourself whether that makes sense,” says Vogler. Digital systems should also be able to indicate when a drug needs to be reordered or when the bandages are running out. In a multi-page paper, the umbrella organization of care associations is therefore calling for a national strategic plan. In addition, there is insufficient network coverage in many federal states.
The model project is based on a series of laws that Health Minister Jens Spahn has introduced in recent years. One of the last is the Digital Supply and Care Modernization Act (DVPMG). It stipulates that – after the hospitals and medical practices – care facilities should now also be connected to the TI by 01/01/2024.
“Otherwise I’ll move out again”: Internet access has become a basic need for many old people.
Image: dpa
Digital offers in geriatric care
In addition, digital offers for senior citizens are a growing market. Many young startups and digital companies have discovered seniors as customers. “There is a wide variety of offers – many can help, but many have not yet been thought through. There is a lack of coordination among the systems,” says Nursing Council President Vogler. There are apps that should help avoid falls; Carpets that absorb movement patterns; kitchen units that can be raised or lowered; Cupboards that open by themselves; Mirrors that tell dementia patients what the weather is like today. Whether all of this is needed is questionable, says Vogler. “It would be important to develop apps that support communication between doctors, therapists and nurses – for the benefit of those in need of care.”
Rudolf Kaspari from Mayen in the Eifel knows that older people would like to participate in digital life. As a digital ambassador, he volunteers to advise seniors on buying a tablet that is right for them, and shows how to set up e-mails or apps to communicate with family members or friends. “Mainly the very simple things,” said the digital ambassador. Despite the interest shown by the elderly, Kaspari is always amazed: there are still old people’s homes that don’t even offer their residents WiFi. Home manager Lautersbach cannot even imagine that. She tells of a 92-year-old who immediately asked about the Internet when he moved in. That’s what he needs to communicate with his friends: “‘Otherwise I’ll move out again.'”