About the project
The aim of the project is to overcome the heterogeneity of the current telemedical infrastructure of German university hospitals and to create a standardised, telemedical collection of research data on COVID-19, with a focus on semantic and syntactic interoperability. In addition, an evidence-based guideline for telemedical care is to be developed.
The main aim of the UTN project is to lay the foundations for national standardised electronic data collection using telemedicine for university research and to provide long-term infrastructural support. The aim is to formulate standards for existing telemedical structures at German university hospitals. The aim of those involved in the project is to standardise the existing heterogeneous telemedical structures at German university hospitals and to enable simple and cost-effective use at all university hospitals. Through a common standard and regular updates, UTN aims to achieve broad telemedical study support for clinicians and scientists.
The challenges of the UTN project lie primarily in the standardisation and harmonisation of the existing heterogeneous telemedicine structures at German university hospitals. The development and implementation of a national standard for electronic data collection using telemedicine requires a precise formulation of standards that fulfil the diverse requirements and circumstances of the individual clinics. Not only technological aspects, but also legal and organisational challenges must be taken into account.
As part of the implementation and establishment of the UTN project, the first step will be to create a framework for standardised electronic data collection and integration in the context of COVID-19 research. Against the background of existing telemedical data infrastructures and networks at university hospitals, UTN will build on these existing systems and integrate them into the new structure. A particular focus will be on semantic and syntactic interoperability as well as smooth integration into the existing NUM and MII infrastructures. The NUM sites will act as central hubs and UTN will act as the organisational infrastructure. This structure will enable targeted, cross-site consolidation of high-frequency, telemedicine-generated research data while optimising the use of existing or emerging NUM infrastructures.
In order to analyse the effectiveness of telemedicine as a support for longitudinal data collection, particularly in the context of cohort studies, the newly created structure will be tested using a suitable use case. This use case will collect telemedical data in order to evaluate the practical applicability and effectiveness of this newly created structure.