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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Nuklearmedizin 2025; 64(02): 156-162
DOI: 10.1055/a-2502-1728
Original Article

Digitalization of Nuclear Medicine in Germany – Status Quo 2024

Digitalisierung der Nuklearmedizin in Deutschland – Status Quo 2024
Thomas Wendler
1   Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, University Hospital Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany (Ringgold ID: RIN39694)
2   Digital Medicine, University Hospital Augsburg, Neusaess, Germany (Ringgold ID: RIN39694)
3   School of Computation, Information and Technology, Technical University of Munich, Garching bei München, Germany (Ringgold ID: RIN9184)
,
Julian Manuel Michael Rogasch
4   Department of Nuclear Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany (Ringgold ID: RIN14903)
5   Berlin Institute of Health, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany (Ringgold ID: RIN14903)
,
Moritz B. Bastian
6   Department of Nuclear Medicine, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg, Germany (Ringgold ID: RIN39072)
,
Wolfgang Burchert
7   Institute of Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Heart- and Diabetes-Center North-Rhine Westafalia, University Hospital of the Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany (Ringgold ID: RIN439861)
,
Dirk Hellwig
8   Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany (Ringgold ID: RIN39070)
9   Partner Site Regensburg, Bavarian Cancer Research Center, Regensburg, Germany (Ringgold ID: RIN653574)
10   Medical Data Integration Center (MEDIZUKR), University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany (Ringgold ID: RIN39070)
,
Lena Kaiser
11   Department of Nuclear Medicine, LMU University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munchen, Germany (Ringgold ID: RIN9183)
,
Philipp Lohmann
12   Department of Nuclear Medicine, RWTH Aachen University Hospital, Aachen, Germany
,
Florian Rosar
6   Department of Nuclear Medicine, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg, Germany (Ringgold ID: RIN39072)
,
Benedikt Schemmer
13   Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany (Ringgold ID: RIN39062)
,
Johannes Tran-Gia
14   Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
,
Isabelle Miederer
15   Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany (Ringgold ID: RIN39068)
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Abstract

Aim

Digitalization in the healthcare sector is becoming increasingly widespread. Yet, the degree of digitalization in nuclear medicine has not been systematically investigated. The “Digitalization and AI” working group of the German Society of Nuclear Medicine conducted a survey to assess the status quo of digitalization of the nuclear medicine health infrastructure in Germany.

Methods

100 questions were defined on eleven topics covering the main work processes in nuclear medicine. The survey primarily included single-select multiple-choice questions, yes-no questions on the availability of specific digital structures and processes, and questions assessing the degree of digitalization of certain processes and current satisfaction. The level of satisfaction was measured with an ordinal scale (1, very good to 5, poor).

Results

In most subject areas, processes relied on a combination of paper-based and electronic procedures for the topics analyzed. Differences in satisfaction regarding the different types of processes for any of the questions were not observed, and the overall level of satisfaction among responding sites was quite high.

Conclusion

The survey did not reveal a clear need of the responding sites for complete digitalization of clinical processes. Yet, the participants highlighted the lack of proper Wi-Fi (60%) and the desire for a platform for communication between hospitals, registered doctors and patients (74%). Nevertheless, it is important to take a focused and unbiased look at the daily clinical procedures in every institution and place it in the frame of the existing tools or solutions of peer institutions to discover aspects of digitalization that can create added value in terms of time efficiency, integrity and sustainability.

Keywords

Nuclear Medicine - Digitalization - Healthcare Infrastructure - Healthcare Digital Transformation - Health Information Technology

Supplementary Material



Publication History

Received: 03 October 2024

Accepted: 18 October 2024

Article published online:
17 April 2025

© 2025. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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