Center for Medical, Social and Health Informatics (MESH)

To ensure the proper operation of hospital information systems (HIS) and, consequently, adequate information processing for patient care and—in the university setting—for medical research and teaching, systematic management of these HIS is necessary.

The goal of management is to ensure the proper implementation of the information-processing procedures necessary in a hospital, while maintaining cost-effective operations. This goal can only be achieved through a systematic approach. The development of methods and tools required for the systematic management of HIS includes, among other things, the use of maturity models within the framework of strategic control and monitoring, as well as procedures and tools for benchmarking, project management, and strategic framework planning. These must be suitable for the specific application environment of hospitals and continuously refined in light of changing conditions.

The working group is intended to promote and support the development of methods and tools for the systematic management of HIS through interdisciplinary collaboration. Further information can be found on the Homepage of the working group.

The main objective of the working group „Information processing in nursing“ of the German Association for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology (GMDS) is the support of the communication between all persons interested in nursing informatics (e.g. users, manufacturers, scientists, associations) as well as the propagation of nursing informatics in education, practice and research. Further information can be found on the Homepage of the working group.

The main objective of the network is the improvement of continuity in patient care and the promotion of innovation potential through an organized exchange of information between science and practice. It is committed to supporting cooperation between health care institutions in various sectors using modern information and communication technologies. Further information can be found on the network's rHomepage.

eHealth.Niedersachsen is an initiative of the Lower Saxony Ministry of Economics, Labour and Transport to develop the economic potential of eHealth in the context of the growing healthcare industry for medium-sized companies in Lower Saxony. The aim is to establish a network along the value chain to create the highest possible synergies, strengthen the location and create new jobs. Further information can be found on the initiative's Homepage.

The path to more quality and safety for the patient, but also to maintaining the health of citizens and improving the efficiency and quality of care processes leads to the development of cooperation through communication within and between health and social care institutions. The interoperability standard HL7, developed especially for the health and social services, enables this communication between almost all institutions and areas as well as the corresponding persons, systems and devices of the health and social services. It defines the exchange of messages, document-based communication but also cooperating services as well as their implementation and the necessary infrastructure services. Further information can be found on the homepage of the association´s Homepage.

IHE improves the application of existing standards in healthcare by mapping the overall organisational process both within a hospital or practice and between facilities. IHE creates bridges between different standards and provides users, implementers and developers with a comprehensive technical framework as an implementation guide. With the annual Connectathon, in which up to 300 developers with over 120 systems take part, systems are tested for compatibility, thus ensuring that they can communicate error-free with each other and are prepared for practical use. Further information can be found on the homepage Homepage of the association.