University Hospital RWTH Aachen
As a supramaximal care provider, the University Hospital RWTH Aachen combines patient-oriented medicine and care, teaching and research at an international level. With 34 specialized clinics, 25 institutes and five interdisciplinary units, the university hospital covers the entire medical spectrum. Outstandingly qualified teams of doctors, nurses and scientists are competently committed to the health of the patients. The bundling of patient care, research and teaching in a central building offers the best conditions for intensive interdisciplinary exchange and close clinical and scientific networking. The increasing digitalization of social life is changing the demands on modern healthcare and at the same time offers opportunities for a more efficient healthcare system. In order to fully exploit the potential of digital medicine, the University Hospital RWTH Aachen founded the Innovation Center for Digital Medicine (IZDM) in 2019.
Within the Smart4Health project, UKA coordinates eight Citizen Use Cases (CUCs), including real life setting examples of enabled citizens that manage, collect, access and share own health and healthcare data. Especially high prevalence health issues are addressed, having a great societal relevance and economic implications.
Example: By establishing a smart environment at Intensive Care Units, lower back pain and the associated high absenteeism rates of nursing staff can be counteracted. For this, ICU nurses use a robot arm in combination with a smart vest, which collects movement data during daily work. Nurses have the opportunity to upload their data into the 4HealthPlatform and share it with orthopedic specialists for analysis and treatment.