The Health Hub Vienna Innovation Day on September 17, 2020 presented itself as a platform for an explosive topic: Should solutions “forced” by COVID-19 be maintained and maybe even developed further or should we strive for a return to the “old” normality, to “business as usual”?

Together with the Federation of Austrian Social Insurances, the Health Hub Vienna invited experts, all of them insiders of the Austrian health care system, to the Innovation Day. The aim was to discuss new ideas and possibilities for digitizing the healthcare system and to present the white paper “COVID-19 – an opportunity for the healthcare system in Austria”.

The pandemic triggered a series of innovations and creative solutions – because they were suddenly indispensable. Many of the new solutions are proving their worth – demonstrating the necessity of Digital Health and at the same time Austria’s great potential to be a leader in this field due to its unique size and position in the DACH region.

“Together with our partners, we as Health Hub Vienna have made it our mission to be a driving force in the digitization of the healthcare system in Austria and Europe”. emphasized Dr. Irene Fialka, CEO INiTS & Managing Director Health Hub Vienna in her welcoming statement.

DI Martin Brunninger, MEng, MSc, CEO of the Federation of Austrian Social Insurances, pointed out in his opening remarks that “recent times have highlighted the undeniable need for digital health solutions in healthcare worldwide.

There is a strong consensus that massive growth has taken place, especially in the last six months. Stakeholders believe that it is important to preserve this progress and actively create a new normality.

The conditions for successful digitization were discussed on the podium by:

• Nora Blum, PhD, cofounder and CEO, Selfapy (virtually)
• Dr. Andrea Vincenzo Braga, MBA, Vice president TELEMED Austria (Austrian Association for Telemedicine), MD and Telemedicine-entrepreneur (virtually)
• DI Martin Brunninger, MEng, MSc, CEO Federation of Austrian Social Insurances
• MMag. Michael Hackl, Digitization Coordinator ITSV (Sozialversicherung IT-Services)
• DI Dr. Günter Rauchegger, MBA, General Manager ELGA, Elektronik Health Records
• Dr. Reka Szentgyörgyi, Senior Staff Radiologist, Rudolfinerhaus Private Clinic

Three specific showcases showed already successful solutions and startup/corporate cooperations in Austria:

• SCARLETRED – an international tele-dermatology company that supplies novel products for demanding applications in the digital analysis and therapeutic treatment of skin diseases. They work together with Novartis Oncology to optimize therapy management in a specific cancer disease.
• wellabe – enables people to record vital parameters, implement health check-ups and to understand and actively shape their own health. Together with Uniqa, they are bringing a mobile solution to companies to provide convenient and efficient employee health care.
• docdok.health – the “Netflix of healthcare” uses the potential of patient-generated data to enable and offer personalized healthcare solutions. Evidence-based and cost-efficient. Together with the Vinzenz Gruppe, they have been able to shift outpatient operations to the home and make medical care available digitally while maintaining the necessary data security.

The hybrid event with few participants on site attracted over 200 viewers who were able to follow the livestream and the various presentations and networking sessions online.