At the beginning of November, the European Leadership Network (ELNET) and the Bundesverband Medizintechnologie (BVMed) organized a webinar for members of the association. More than 300 manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers in the MedTech industry, as well as medical aid providers and homecare providers, are represented by BVMed. The focus of the event was on the activities of the German Israeli Health Forum for Artificial Intelligence (GIHF-AI).
Following a welcome by Dr. Marc-Pierre Möll (Managing Director and Board Member of BVMed), Carsten Ovens (CEO, ELNET) provided insights into the work of GIHF-AI, the health policy program of ELNET. The program has been funded for multiple years by the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) and was developed in close collaboration with the BMG and the Israeli Ministry of Health (MOHI). Additionally, the initiative is also supported by the Free State of Saxony.
To provide an overview of the joint work over the past three years, as well as the current developments in Israeli health policy and digital health applications of the highly digitized startup nation, Yoel Ben-Or (Head of the Digital Health Policy Department, MOHI) presented Israel’s latest law on the use of health data, the Data Portability Act.
Ben-Or also emphasized the importance of cooperation between Germany and Israel in health matters within the framework of GIHF-AI. He noted that Israel, with its innovation-friendly regulation, high agility, and small size, can serve as an ideal beta site for AI-based interventions and applications.
GIHF-AI board member Prof. Dr. Sylvia Thun (Director, Core Unit eHealth and Interoperability, BIH at Charité ) presented the GIHF-AI study on trust in the use of health data as well as the GIHF-AI Study 2.0: Applications and framework conditions of AI in medicine.
Gemeinsam mit Prof. Dr. Ran Balicer (CIO & Deputy-DG, Clalit Health Services), Dr. Yiska Weisband (Direktorin des Data Research Centers, Clalit Innovation) sowie Dr. Alexander Schachinger (Gründer, EPatient Analytics) hatte Sylvia Thun sich im Rahmen der von GIHF-AI initiierten Studien vor allem mit der Bereitschaft deutscher und israelischer Bürgerinnen und Bürger zur Spende von Gesundheitsdaten für Forschung und Versorgungsmanagement befasst.
The webinar, moderated by Marc-Pierre Möll, concluded with Lea Ledwon (Program Manager GIHF-AI, ELNET) presenting the upcoming digital health delegation to Israel, which will take place from November, 10-14. Carsten Ovens summarized: “Bilateral cooperation in the healthcare sector has increased significantly in recent years. We are pleased to have contributed to making this happen with GIHF-AI and would like to expand this commitment in the future. The German market is very interesting for digital health startups from Israel. At the same time, there are many advantages for patients and medical staff in Germany as a result of advancing digitalization.“
