Medi:cus: Cloud platform for healthcare data from the Ländle region takes shape

The medical cloud platform Medi:cus, which is being supported by Baden-Württemberg with millions in "start-up funding", is set to launch with simple IT services in the middle of the year. The first specialist services would then be made available "by the middle or end of 2026", explained project manager Alexander Becker from the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Interior on Wednesday at a specialist conference on the cloud in the healthcare sector organized by the IT association Bitkom in Berlin. He spoke of "gates for clinical care" that the planned "marketplace for multi-cloud without vendor lock-in" should open. The aim is to help hospitals make the transition to the digital world. For the business economist, one thing is certain: "We need to transform the entire sector." The cloud is "the tool of choice" for this.

"We want to act as an intermediary," explained Becker. The vision behind Medi:cus is a "cloud-based healthcare data ecosystem with a sustainable and secure IT infrastructure". Standardization and interoperability are crucial for this. "We have to think in terms of 'stores' with specialist services and basic services," explained the head of the initiative. In addition to the realities in hospitals, where some do not even have WLAN yet, while university hospitals are already much further ahead, the team is also keeping an eye on regulatory challenges and "social complexity".

Ammar Alkassar, board member of the GovTech Campus, illustrated the current state of affairs in more concrete terms. The Berlin-based digitalization service provider for the state and public administration is one of the two implementation partners of Medi:cus alongside the consulting firm Deloitte. Alkassar described the "Medi:core basic services" outlined so far as a hub and exchange platform for patients' "core data". These include identity management for access to the platform, a messenger solution and an application for teleconsultation rounds, in which doctors digitally coordinate findings, diagnosis and treatment. Medi:cus also wants to cover part of the "dysfunctional market" for hospital information systems (HIS).

Embrace and Extend

Complex examination techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) cannot simply be packed into the cloud, Alkassar knows about the limitations of the approach being pursued. However, a "socket" for the secure connection of hospitals in general is feasible. This would make it easier to connect to the cloud. In addition, a standardized data protection concept would make it possible to develop or expand apps for hospitals more quickly and significantly simplify procurement. Data processing in the local data center, which is secured via a physical VPN, will only remain for "absolutely necessary things" in the intensive care sector.

At the same time, Gematik is working on a comprehensive telematics infrastructure (TI) on behalf of the federal government. The Medi:cus creators have an "embrace and extend" approach in mind. There is already "good work on standardization", says Alkassar. This refers to the TI Messenger (TIM), for example, which is based on the Matrix protocol.

Giving politics a leg up

"We will use the same system 1:1," announced the GovTech expert. It has been agreed with the Federal Ministry of Health that Medi:cus will anticipate standards in view of the pressing time, even if Gematik has not yet presented them in final form. For example, the team will raise the threshold for attachments in the TIM (25 megabytes), as otherwise it will not be possible to send X-ray images. We will also "adopt good components" from EU projects, which are primarily linked to the European Health Data Space (EHDS). Medi:cus is also open to applications from start-ups, particularly in the field of AI.

In general, the motto is not to select specific apps, but to create a market. Three federal states have already asked whether they could join. Medi:cus has 200 clinics behind it and therefore a "large stakeholder landscape", emphasized Becker. Even if the platform operator is still open, the train can hardly be stopped: "We are building up market and project power in order to override the political complex a little." Meanwhile, the competition is not sleeping: according to AWS, the private hospitals Max-Grundig-Klinik and Mainschleife have already largely moved to the cloud in Germany.

(nen)