Branch-Policy Forum in the OTWorld Media Library

In the one-hour panel discussions about quality-assured treatment with medical aids in Germany and worldwide, the following questions were highlighted:

• Qualitätsgesicherte und fachgerechte Hilfsmittelversorgung in Deutschland: Wer steht in der Verantwortung?

• Warum tut sich Deutschland mit dem eRezept und der elektronischen Patientenakte so schwer?

• Verantwortung übernehmen: Wie steht es um die digitale Versorgung und unser Mindset eHealth?

• Zwischen Homeoffice, Selbstoptimierung und demografischem Wandel: Gesundheit selbst verantworten?

• Verantwortung zeigen: Kennt internationale Hilfsmittelversorgung (keine) Grenzen?

• Wem traut man im Gesundheitswesen Verantwortung zu? Über die Bedeutung der Gesundheitsfachberufe?

In the opening event, „Qualitätsgesicherte und fachgerechte Hilfsmittelversorgung in Deutschland: Wer steht in der Verantwortung?“ the panel guests held a debate on the status quo in orthopaedic treatment and care. Expenditure by health insurers is at record levels, increasing prices of raw materials and energy are raising costs, and the aid industry is straining under growing bureaucratic demands. Rainer Sbrzesny, a speaker in the German Federal Patient Advocates' Working Group, joined the panel live from Berlin and said, "We are currently spending more money than we are receiving." Reserves have been tapped that will soon be exhausted. For this reason, he called for a shift from care for the masses to care centred on the individual patient. "We need a value-based medicine," Prof Dr Joachim Kugler, Professor of Health Sciences/Public Health at Dresden University of Technology demanded. He continued, "We ask far too rarely whether anything has been achieved for the patient." In the current care system, each stage of treatment is invoiced separately, which in his opinion, creates more focus on prices than on the benefit that the patient actually derives from the particular treatment.

The discussion panel „Verantwortung übernehmen: Wie steht es um die digitale Versorgung und unser Mindset eHealth?“ shed light on the current state of digital treatment: From 3D technology in technical orthopaedic treatment to electronic patient files and the German healthcare system, which is not yet making full use of the technical tools available.

Prof Wolfram Mittelmeier, First President of the German Society for Interprofessional Orthopaedic Treatment and Care (DGIHV) and Clinical Director of the Orthopaedic Clinic and Polyclinic at the Rostock University Medical Center: "We haven't yet come close to making use of the digital possibilities. Especially at a working level in the majority of practices, we still have a lot to do."

Congress President Dipl.-Ing. Merkur Alimusaj, Head of Technical Orthopaedics at Heidelberg University Hospital, highlighted digital stand-alone solutions in particular, such as certain processes and products that have been of significant help to patients. However, he also emphasised, "We must begin by introducing more digital tools into our training programmes and transferring these skills to the relevant fields so they can be used in the industry and patients can become accustomed to them."

All recordings of the Branch-Policy Forum can be found in the OTWorld media library.