The digitalization of medicine is currently one of the most relevant topics globally. In order to measure the willingness to provide digital health data for research and care management, 2,052 citizens in Germany and Israel were surveyed in mid 2023 for a first direct comparison in the context of GIHF-AI (German Israeli Health Forum for Artificial Intelligence), an initiative by the European Leadership Network (ELNET).
Prof. Dr. Sylvia Thun, Director Core Unit eHealth and Interoperability at Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH), and Prof. Dr. Ran Balicer, CIO & Deputy-DG at Clalit Health Services and Founding Director at Clalit Research Institute, served as primary investigators to the study. Additional authors were Dr. Yiska Weisband, Director of Data Research Centers at Clalit Innovation, and Dr. Alexander Schachinger, CEO of EPatient Analytics. Clalit Research Institute and EPatient Analytics, the digital health market research agency, designed a health data survey and used the panel approach from Kantar Global, an international leading consumer panel provider, to survey a controlled sample of 1,219 German and 833 Israeli citizens. The project time of the panel survey was May to July 2023.
A key finding is the relatively advanced willingness of citizens in Germany to accept digital health scenarios based on their own health data. This willingness is only slightly less pronounced than in Israel. Mind you: In Israel, digital supply solutions based on individual vital signs, have been a reality for over 15 years. Against the background of a previously nonexistent digital care structure in Germany, it can be deduced that the German population is more advanced in its acceptance of digital health than politicians and legislators or the regulators of the health system in Germany.
Furthermore, it is easy to understand that ownership and usage of digital health devices and applications in Israel are further developed by many years compared to Germany. As indicated above, the Health Maintenance Organizations in Israel have been offering these applications to their policyholders and patients with a consistently digitally integrated database for many years. Germany should follow suit.
