Cologne, Germany, April 3, 2020 – There is no question that in an ideal world we would have enough protective masks and clothing for medical staff, as well as intensive care beds and ventilation places for all those patients in whom Covid-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, takes a particularly severe course. Unfortunately, the current reality is different. Although we are already comparatively well positioned in Germany, our capacities will not be sufficient if the number of new cases increases exponentially and a large number of patients with life-threatening symptoms have to be treated at the same time.
Against this background, all companies, especially those in the healthcare sector, must ask themselves whether and how they can relieve the burden on the healthcare system in this acute situation. Together with some of our partners, we are also considering how we can use the expertise and knowledge gained so far from our collaboration with hospitals and rehabilitation facilities to make our contribution to the fight against the coronavirus.
Two things stand out in particular: First, medical staff must be relieved wherever possible. Second, robust follow-up data are urgently needed to draw a comprehensive epidemiological picture. And this includes, above all, those patients with milder courses of covid-19 who are not hospitalized but are in quarantine at home.
In both areas, we at m.Doc have been able to gather extensive experience in recent years with our Smart Clinic solution. Smart Clinic ensures, for example, that patients are comprehensively informed at all times. And such up-to-date and relevant information greatly simplifies processes for both patients and hospital staff. Individual therapy plans, patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), which measure the assessment of patients’ health status, or illustrations of individual patient pathways are also possible at any time with Smart Clinic from m.Doc.
At the same time, we offer deep integrations with hospital information systems and exchange data such as the patient’s structured self-history and can integrate digital patient records into our platform solution. This would also make it possible to monitor the progress of patients in quarantine at home – for example, by regularly querying and transmitting symptoms.
Like our partners, we are convinced that any relief for the healthcare system – be it in patient communication, in the administrative area or in data acquisition for better assessment of SARS-CoV-2 and the course of the disease – will mean that we may come through the crisis better prepared. Accordingly, we are working flat out on just such solutions.