Everything remains different - even in medicine. The project "Medicine 4.0" is dedicated to important ethical questions in this context.

The electronic medical record, the measurement of health data via app, the communication between doctors and hospital via a platform, the video consultation hour - these are just a few examples of digital technologies that are currently revolutionizing and permanently changing the German health care industry. The basis of digitalisation is the medical data of the insured person, which is exchanged between doctors and patients and between the individual service providers thanks to modern information and communication technologies. Digitalisation makes it possible to modernise and significantly develop diagnostics and treatment. It contributes to facilitating communication between the various players in the healthcare system and enables individual patients to manage their health more effectively, for example through apps and information on the Internet.

So digitization in medicine has long since become a reality and is taking place in everyday life - and it electrifies everyone involved. But security is also at the heart of the new digital medical world. Therefore, the project "Medicine 4.0" investigates essential ethical questions in connection with digital technologies in health care. Both the high technology in medical care such as AI systems, Big Data applications and new treatment methods as well as the constant linking of health-related data and their mobile collection through apps, wearables and other digital devices are changing the fundamental structures of the health care system in Germany as well - albeit later than in many other countries.

Adapt and learn at the speed of innovation

This is connected with many promises, great expectations, but also new fears. Dealing with this is one of the current challenges facing the medical profession. They have to adapt to the speed of innovation and learn to distinguish between imaginary and actual progress in order to use the real innovations adequately for and with patients. Important basic ethical rules such as the so-called no harm principle or the duty of confidentiality must be taken into account in this development. This does not exactly make things easier for the medical profession, so that scientific studies are needed to provide orientation here.

It is important and helpful to ask questions that are aimed at the problems. It must be clear who can view health-related data collected in an app and who is responsible for it. Does the data belong to the patient, the health insurance company or even the app provider? Should self-collected patient data be included in the diagnosis and therapy selection? What is the general significance and specific medical value of these data? Are they relevant for research?

These questions show how far-reaching the changes that digitisation is undergoing in medicine and society are. The respective role of the patient, the relationship with the treating persons and the health care system as a whole are also subject to this influence. Doctors will feel how their professional image and also their self-image will adapt to the new circumstances. When it comes to digitization, the German health care system is far behind in international comparison. In other countries, telemonitoring, video consultation hours and electronic patient files have long been the order of the day - in Germany, many of these innovations are either not used or only used in part.