Increasing cost pressures and an aging society are challenging the health sector, and IT may have the answer to the challenges. The concepts have been tested out and promise clear savings at higher performance. So a growing number of players are putting them high on their agenda. Acceptance is very high among the general public, studies show.
CeBIT is paying attention to the growing importance of ICT solutions in public health and is expanding the TeleHealth area in 2012: The new theme "Health & Vitality" (Hall 8) combines an exhibition, a symposium and networking into a meeting point for IT decision-makers and users from hospitals, clinics, senior and care facilities, not to mention finance controllers, stakeholders, administrators and representatives of associations and the political sphere.
Groundbreaking projects have documented the rapid advances in this field. The first area-wide telemedicine networks for high-risk cardiac patients have long been in operation. Apps that capture health data are state-of-the-art. They already contribute to prevention and better patient care.