Innovative Tele-physician Service Eagerly Introduced to Enhance Patient Care Through Emergency Services
In a bid to modernize and strengthen emergency services, telemedicine doctors have been introduced in Saxony-Anhalt, a district in eastern Germany. The initiative, which started as a pilot project in October 2024, has seen over 500 deployments since its inception, with the aim of making emergency services future-proof across the country.
The concept of the telemedicine doctor was approved by the state committee for emergency services in September 2024. The project, which covers both urban and rural emergency service areas, is supported by Hartmut Handschak, the district administrator of Saalekreis, who believes it will provide valuable support for emergency medical technicians and doctors.
The telemedicine doctors, located in an operations center, receive vital data from the field during emergency situations. Their role primarily involves decision-making, data collection, and offering accompaniment during transport or dosage assistance in medication administration. In over 92% of cases, the use of the telemedicine doctor has been described as very helpful or helpful by both the doctor and the telemedicine doctor user (emergency medical technician).
However, in 1.5% of deployments, the telemedicine doctor could not be reached directly due to lack of network availability. In such cases, alternative communication channels, such as the telephone, were used.
The initiative for the telemedicine doctor project came mainly from the medical directors of emergency services in the participating municipalities. The project is designed for two years with an option for extension. Minister of the Interior Dr. Tamara Zieschang believes the telemedicine doctor strengthens the emergency service and should be permanently anchored in the emergency service law for the whole country.
The telemedicine doctor also provides advisory support to a doctor present on site if necessary. In cases where the telemedicine doctor could not be reached directly, this support is still provided through alternative communication channels.
Telemedicine demand in rural and eastern Germany, including Saxony-Anhalt, is recognized as growing, especially for teleradiology, driven by demographic pressures such as chronic disease burden and population aging, which impact healthcare services. The healthcare sector, including pilot projects in telemedicine, often aligns with addressing these rural healthcare access challenges.
However, the current status or future plans of the telemedicine doctor pilot project in Saxony-Anhalt are not explicitly detailed in the available information. For comprehensive updates on this project, checking with Saxony-Anhalt's Ministry of Social Affairs or health department websites, or healthcare innovation initiatives in Germany, might yield more precise official statements.
In the three emergency service areas of the districts of Mansfeld-South Harz and Saalekreis, as well as in the city of Halle (Saale), 52 ambulances and ten emergency doctor vehicles serve almost 560,000 inhabitants. The supporting, additional help of the telemedicine doctor can be provided immediately after their telephone alarm.
[1] Source: Various online articles and reports on telemedicine and healthcare in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
Other health-and-wellness professionals might find the telemedicine doctor project in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, an interesting case study, given its focus on science and modernizing emergency services. With the initiative aiming to address rural healthcare access challenges in the district, it could potentially inspire similar projects in other regions.
