Checklist for Politics – How our sick healthcare system gets fit

200 experts and decision-makers have drawn up concrete recommendations for improvements for the next cabinet. This year’s Austrian Health Forum in Bad Hofgastein focused on two central topics: prevention, digitalization and data use.

More prevention is needed
Meinhild Hausreither, head of department at the Ministry of Health, summarized the situation as follows: “The number of life years spent in healthcare in Austria is below the average of comparable countries. That is why it is important to expand health promotion, health literacy and prevention.”

Automatic vaccination reminders in the future?
The participants of the conference agreed that vaccinations are an important preventive tool and that the rollout of an e-vaccination certificate with invitation and reminder function is necessary. ÖGK chairman Andreas Huss: “Vaccinations are a central task of the Austrian healthcare system.” There was again discussion about vaccinations in pharmacies.

Jakob Hochgerner, health director of the state of Upper Austria, proposed enshrining the recommended vaccinations as health insurance benefits in the General Social Insurance Act (ASVG): “Of course, the health insurer must also receive sufficient resources for this. With their structures, the federal states could be contractual partners and strong advocates of a national vaccination program for health insurance.”

Popper: “People can then decide freely”
Simulation researcher Niki Popper emphasized the importance of exchanging information: science could use network data to draw dynamic evaluation models on the basis of which wise decisions can be made. “We can then simulate what effect a certain intervention, such as a vaccination, will have. People can decide freely based on this information.” However, the necessary data is often still lacking: “If we want to develop such evidence-based models, we need data of a quality that we are still far from.”

Improve communication and use data
The other participants also agreed on the desire for better health communication and targeted use of health data and digitalization. “If we fail to make optimal use of digitalization, we will not be able to provide the population with optimal care,” says Peter Lehner, chairman of the Social Insurance for the Self-Employed (SVS).

There was also discussion about health portals and the telephone health advice 1450. According to Director General of Public Health Katharina Reich, anonymous contact points such as 1450 are good and important, but not enough personal contact points are needed; “People need to have a complete picture of their own health situation and that of their own family.”

Information must be brought together
In the current system everyone does what they want. “We need efficient patient management,” said Harald Mayer, vice president of the Medical Association. Health information already collected must be available to patients and practitioners, appointment reminders must be sent in a timely manner and news – such as a hospital visit – must be registered immediately. The desired result: “Treatment can be improved through more information exchange between health professionals, through more health literacy and more interaction with patients,” says Verena Nikolai, head of department at the Ministry of Health.

What efficient management can look like was illustrated using the example of COPD. Chronic lung disease, also known as ‘smoking disease’, is one of the most common causes of death worldwide. Primar Arshang Valipour from the Floridsdorf Clinic said: “One punch in the face is less than two punches in the face – the same goes for e-cigarettes. Based on the current state of research, they are less harmful than ‘regular’ cigarettes. But young people start smoking and 80 percent of them start smoking later. It contains chemicals and flavorings that can even lead to their own secondary diseases.”

Data protection as a problem child
Data protection is especially relevant in the context of digital solutions, as German data protection activist and author Leena Simon highlighted. “There are legitimate reasons to collect data, not just for science. But we can only obtain this sensitive data with strong data protection. Without them they would be incomplete and incorrect. Data protection is not an obstacle, but rather a competitive advantage that builds trust.”

Prevention as the key to a healthy life
Another question from the Austrian Health Forum related to prevention and health awareness. Insured people must be encouraged to behave correctly. “Almost 30 percent of people enter adulthood overweight, and this figure rises to 50 percent by the time they retire.

We must therefore start with children and young people, with measures for more exercise and healthier nutrition – and this must be coordinated nationally. This requires a prevention law that follows a mandatory approach, whereby the measures taken are also subject to uniform supervision,” says Wolfgang Panhölzl of the AK-Vienna.