These are the winners of the Health-i Awards

Berlin There is no shortage of technologically innovative ideas that will advance German healthcare digitally. This was shown again this year by the Health-i-Award, which was presented on Thursday evening by the health insurance company Die Techniker and the Handelsblatt in Berlin.

Nevertheless, Germany still has many problems with the digitization of the healthcare system. According to the analysis by technician boss Jens Baas, this is also due to the handling of data: “You need data for digitization and that is a very difficult topic in Germany.” While other countries are already using electronic patient files and other data-based offers, he is gaining in Germany the impression that “data protection is the highest good,” said Baas.

Prof. Jochen Werner, Medical Director and Chairman of the Board of Essen University Medicine, was even clearer at the award ceremony in Berlin. Medicine has made huge advances in the past and invented penicillin and insulin.

Germany must now see that data is the next advance in medicine. Using this data also has to do with responsibility: “If I don’t use the data that I could use to make people healthy, then I’m guilty of the fact that the sick don’t get well,” said Werner.

The topic of data was on the agenda of many applicants for this year’s Health-i-Award. Data use and analysis to improve the living situation of patients is the core of numerous ideas and business models of the applicants.

Winner in the company category: Online Doctor 24

This is also the case with the winner in the company category: the telemedicine provider Online Doctor 24, which offers a digital skin check. The technology can be used for diagnostics and follow-up, as well as for the assessment of acute cases.

Founded in St. Gallen in 2016, Online Doctor 24 has now advised more than 100,000 patients and works with around 650 dermatologists. Acutely affected and chronically ill people send a photo of the affected skin area to the platform and describe the symptoms to a chatbot.

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CEO Philipp Wustrow said: “85 percent of all cases can be treated completely digitally in this way.” Only 15 percent of users are asked to present themselves personally at the practice after the digital consultation and are then given an appointment within a few days.

According to CEO Wustrow, the unique position of Online Doctor 24 is the exclusive partnership with the professional association of German dermatologists and the labeling as a medical product. The company is currently working on developing the first AI-supported medical product for teledermatological use.

The software could help doctors with the diagnosis. The company, which currently has around 45 employees, can also imagine expanding into other therapy areas. “The name Online Doctor was deliberately chosen to be generic,” says Wustrow.

Winner in the start-ups category: Endo Health

The finalists in the start-ups category had to prove themselves in the live pitch on site on the site of the former Bötzow brewery in Berlin: In the end, Endo Health narrowly won. The team developed an app to support women suffering from endometriosis, which is painful growths in the abdomen.

Prof. Nadine Rohloff is Medical Director at Endo Health. As a doctor in the women’s clinic, she has often experienced how difficult it is to support patients outside of surgery and hormone therapy – be it due to lack of time, waiting times or confusing data. “After being released, the feeling usually remained that more had to be done to provide support in everyday life and with chronic problems,” she says.

This is how the Endo app came about, which is now also approved as a medical product. The app offers an endometriosis diary, exercises and courses in physiotherapy, gynaecology, psychology and yoga and nutritional medicine. Studies have now shown that the quality of life of those affected could be improved by using the app.

Winner in the young projects category: Puray

In the young projects category, the team from Puray from Munich was able to convince. Puray develops a urinary catheter that disinfects itself. It protects against catheter-related infections, which are a big problem. At around 25 percent, they are among the most common hospital infections.

The Puray urinary tract catheter uses UV-C light to destroy the genome of pathogens and is harmless to human cells. In this way, the use of many antibiotics against infections can be avoided. Puray’s technology is also effective against multi-resistant germs. The Puray team consists of bioengineers, mechatronics engineers and nanotechnologists. The product is patent pending and the team is on the way to founding a company.

220 applications for Health-i-Award

In total, more than 220 entries were received for the Health-i-Award, which was presented for the seventh time this year. They were evaluated by the scientific partner, the Essen University Medical Center, and a jury of experts.

In addition to the three winning teams, others made it into the ranks of nine finalists. Anvajo and Tiplu placed in the company category. Anvajo offers a mobile mini laboratory that aims to detect signs of chronic kidney disease at an early stage using urinalysis, for example.

Tiplu has developed software that checks hospital bills. The Hamburg-based company now wants to offer its data pool in order to train artificial intelligence on it – as a basis for new applications in the health sector.

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Cytolytics and Digital Health Systems (Dihesys) were among the start-up finalists. Cytolytics wants to use trained software to automate flow cytometry, a laboratory medicine procedure in which cells are counted and analyzed. Using a 3D process, Dihesys prints tablets with the active ingredients that are to be taken individually for patients.

Bodytune and Breathment were also placed as finalists among the young talents. Bodytune offers automated audio analysis that monitors blood flow in the carotid artery to prevent artery occlusion. Breathment offers a digital program that guides people with respiratory diseases to do proper breathing and physical exercises.

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