Completed Projects

Projects

In the following, we will give you an overview of projects carried out by the German Foundation for the Chronically Ill.

We would like to thank our partners for the successful collaborations! Publications created during and after the projects can be found under the heading publications or as downloads under informations.

SimPat - Ensuring the intersectoral care of multimorbid patients with dementia

As part of the "Services 2020 Action Plan", the Federal Ministry of Education and Research is funding the SimPat concept under the measure "Service innovations through digitization" - a holistic concept for the care of dementia-affected people with various illnesses. SimPat stands for "Securing intersectoral care through an IT-based service concept for multimorbid patients with dementia".

What does this mean? People with dementia often suffer from several age-related illnesses, such as diabetes or fractures as a result of falls. Therefore, these patients have multiple support needs which go beyond the immediate needs of dementia. In addition to inpatient and outpatient medical services of various specialists, rehabilitation measures, therapies and nursing services are also necessary, some of them inpatient, but also partly in the home environment. Therefore, holistic, patient-centred care builds on a network of different disciplines and professions, which sometimes operate in different sectors of the health system

 

EHeR•versorgt

The aim is to provide telemedicine care to patients with chronic heart failures as well as acute heart failure after acute inpatient treatment. EHer•versorgt builds upon the findings of the project E.He.R .: "Establishment of a care concept for patients with chronic heart failure and / or cardiac arrhythmia", which was carried out in the German region of West Palatinate. The successful concept will be further developed and implemented together with the regional players in the Eifelkreis Bitburg-Prüm. This foundation should enable the recruitment of additional regions in Rhineland-Palatinate to this concept of care.

Further information can be found under: eherversorgt.de.

E.He.R. - Establishment of a care concept for heart failure and cardiac arrhythmia patients in Rhineland-Palatinate

The increase in age-associated diseases and the associated multimorbidity and complexity of disease patterns require the courage to break new ground in health policy and create innovative care structures that combine interdisciplinary competencies and bring together health care stakeholders. Important for the success of such innovative care approaches is their integration into existing regional care structures. This idea is also central to the project "E.He.R. - Establishment of a care concept for heart failure and cardiac arrhythmia patients in Rhineland-Palatinate", which is funded by the Ministry of Social Affairs, Labour, Health and Demography in Rhineland-Palatinate within the context of the initiative "Health and Care – 2020”.

More information can be found here.

MERGE IT - Implementation of a telemedicine supported case management platform for patients with heart failure and cardiac arrhythmias in Bavaria

From September 2013 to May 2017, the German Foundation for the Chronically Ill together with the Landshut-Achdorf Hospital, the Landshut Hospital, the Steiner Thor Internal Medicine Practice, the Bogen Clinic and the Passau Hospital conducted a project on a telemedically supported case and care management for patients with heart failure and heart implants in Bavaria. The aim of the project was to make treatment information available to all treatment providers in a timely manner for an informed treatment decision by means of case and care management as well as using an internet-based platform. The project was financed by the Bavarian State Ministry of Health and Nursing and the German Foundation for the Chronically Ill and implemented in the Lower Bavaria region.

Further information can be found here or under www.merge-it.org

EViVa – Impact of video-based medical consultation on the care stability of patients mechanically ventilated at home

Coping with everyday life when requiring invasive home mechanical ventilation is a significant burden for all concerned. With few medical centers of expertise available, home visits by medical specialists are usually not feasible, often requiring repeated hospital admissions which cause an extreme burden and high costs for both patients as well as relatives.

In order to improve the care situation of patients ventilated at home as well as their relatives, a project was initiated by the German Foundation for the Chronically Ill, which included the development, application and evaluation of an innovative video-based communication system. The video-conferencing system was used to assess the physical and mental condition of patients, as well as the real-time history and instruction of relatives and healthcare professionals. Within the framework of the project "EViVa - Impact of video-based medical consultation on the care stability of patients mechanically ventilated at home, the quality of life of patients and relatives as well as the job satisfaction of the caregivers were examined.

This project was funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Health and Nursing and the AOK Bayern.

SubsCare

Previous research on the course of opioid maintenance therapy primarily focused on drug-addicted patients in the first months or one to two years of their treatment. In fact, the number of patients receiving long-term treatment is increasing. Against this background, the German Foundation for the Chronically Ill initiated the prospective, epidemiological cohort study "SubsCare". SubsCare targeted the group of long-term-substituted patients. The duration of the study was limited to one year from 01 May 2012 to 01 May 2014.

More information can be found here.

IHE - Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise

In order to ensure high-quality cooperation between different actors in the healthcare sector, the exchange of data - for example for diagnoses and therapeutic measures - is essential. However, the complexity of the treatment processes, the heterogeneity of the actors involved in the care process as well as the large number of different, mostly incompatible, information and communication solutions currently do not permit a smooth exchange of information.

One approach to overcoming this obstacle is the so-called IHE approach, which is designed to provide interoperability. On the basis of a specific medical application, a technical framework is created that describes the processes and ICT applications in concrete terms. Providers of ICT solutions thus receive precise knowledge of the procedural and medical requirements as well as the interfaces to be integrated.

In cooperation with ICW AG and the University Medical Center Mainz, the German Foundation for the chronically ill carried out a project in Rhineland-Palatinate to develop an IHE profile for patients with heart failure and / or cardiac arrhythmias and implants. The involvement of industrial partners and regional companies ensured a continuous exchange with manufacturers of ICT solutions and medical technology.

The project was funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Climate Protection, Energy and Regional Planning Rhineland-Palatinate.

S.I.T.E. - Creating an innovation milieu for telemedicine

The German Foundation for the Chronically Ill is the consortium leader in the BMBF joint project "SITE - Creating an innovation milieu for telemedicine ". The objective of this three-year research project, which is being carried out in the VDE together with the TU Berlin, the Charité Berlin and the German Society for Biomedical Engineering (DGBMT), is to create an innovative milieu for telemedicine and thus to create long-lasting positive conditions for supporting innovation processes in the healthcare sector.

The Foundation is particularly involved in the standardization efforts, in the course of which certification processes have already been developed, as well as in the development of a qualification concept for the telemedicine assistant and doctor.

Further information can be found at: www.site-telemed.de.

SmartSenior

As part of the BMBF joint project SmartSenior, which was driven by a large number of well-known companies and research institutions, intelligent services and services for seniors were developed to maintain their mobility, self-reliance and health in old age.

The German Foundation for the Chronically Ill helped to develop business models for telemedicine service platforms. It supported the work in the project in its role as a mediator and, through its experience in the field of telemedicine, ensured that the results obtained corresponded to the actual needs of patients and users in the reality of care.

Further information can be found under: www.smart-senior.de

EiVE - Development of innovative care concepts based on the example of rare diseases

The German Foundation for the Chronically Ill participated in the BMBF joint project "EiVE - Development of innovative care concepts based on the example of rare diseases", which took place from 1 May 2009 to 31 March 2012 as part of the priority action "Designing complex value chains for person-centred services based on the example of rare diseases". The project was funded by the BMBF.

More information can be found here.

Pilot project telemonitoring in Rhineland-Palatinate

Today, with the development of telemetry-capable implantable pacemakers and defibrillators, there are many ways to improve the care of heart failure patients. In particular, extensive care of patients can be significantly improved by the telemetric evaluation of diagnostic and therapeutic additional functions of the devices

As part of a pilot study on the telemonitoring of heart failure patients with implants, the German Foundation for the Chronically Ill has now shown in cooperation with the IAT and the Westpfalz-Hospital in Kaiserslautern that the use of the telemetry capability of implants has the ability to improve patient care. In addition to the evaluation of the data collected in a patient study, a systematic comparison was made with the study data on the care of cardiac insufficiency patients and the use of the telemetry capability of the aggregates.

By analyzing and comparing epidemiological data, study data and the findings from the pilot project, it was possible to determine the extent to which international study results can be used for Rhineland-Palatinate, to which extent transferability can be guaranteed, which obstacles to implementation are to be expected and which potential this has for an extensive and widespread coverage. Finally, the establishment of a common information technology infrastructure has promoted the integration of different technical systems, improved the accessibility and availability of relevant data, and thus improved the flow of information among the actors involved.

Expert Group CRT / ICD - Multimodal Therapy of Heart Failure

Heart failure therapy has become very multi-layered and complex in recent years. With the implantation of telemetry enabled devices and the development of additional diagnostic and therapeutic features, a new telemedicine-based approach to improve monitoring and therapy control in severe systolic heart failure has been established. Due to the increasing sub-specialization in cardiology, a cross-sectoral approach to heart failure therapy is important. Collaboration between electrophysiologists, heart failure specialists and cardiologists is often not optimal. Thus, implanting cardiologists know often little about the specific dynamics and problems of the individual CHF patient and are unable to customize the aggregate selection and programming. Cardiologists, on the other hand, who continuously care for chronic heart failure patients, often know little about the additional diagnostic capabilities of implanted devices and new therapeutic options after implantation.

More information can be found here

Guideline adherence in chronic heart failure

As part of its commitment to the analysis and development of the German health care system, the German Foundation for the Chronically Ill supported a doctorate from the Institute for Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology in Hamburg. In collaboration with Dr med Marc Hirt, PhD student Aljosha Muttardi worked on the topic "Medicines for Chronic Heart Failure in the General Practice". The research focuses on the well-known problem of a still large discrepancy between guideline-compliant drug therapy of heart failure and the actually practiced medical practice as well as their reasons.

As part of a comprehensive field work in general practices in Hamburg, the causes and accompanying parameters were collected in an environment as close to reality as possible, and suitable improvements strategies were developed. In contrast to large registry studies, the medical care of CHF patients was analyzed by a detailed study of the medical records as well as interviews with primary care physicians and affected patients.

The results of the study should help to eliminate or at least reduce the discrepancy between theory and practice and consequently ensure better care in the treatment of chronic heart failure in the outpatient area