Breast cancer information network
Mammary carcinoma is a direct and brutal affront to the feminine identity - especially when the diagnosis is made in the later stages of development, which can require a mastectomy. We estimate that one in ten women in Germany will be confronted with this disease, says Dr. Dieter Alt, who directs a nationwide education campaign to raise awareness of breast cancer. This is a disturbing trend. With approximately 20,000 cases each year, breast cancer is the most prevalent cause of death in women over forty. The campaign, supported financially by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, also stresses the critical importance of screening and early diagnosis. The sooner breast cancer is detected, the higher the chances of recovery. Several physicians and clinics are often involved in the follow-up treatment. Shared access to electronic records documenting the patients medical history and treatment plan would optimize the therapy. The Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT has developed a means to accomplish this. There are plans to implement the system, known as Patient Accompanying Documentation or PaDok®, by the end of this year as part of the mammary carcinoma project initiated by the North Rhine-Westphalian branch of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (NASHIP). Patient data will not be transferred over the public Internet. Instead, a secure private intranet will be set up with controlled access available only to the attending physicians. PaDok will run as a communications interface in the background, allowing physicians to continue to use their normal practice software. A gynecologist in City A can send the relevant breast cancer patient data to a surgeon in City B in seconds, explains Dr. Volker Paul, project manager at the IBMT Health Telematics Group. Stringent data protection requirements are met by using multiple encryption during transmission. Furthermore, as Dr. Paul emphasizes: The master key is held by the patient herself, giving her final decision on who is allowed to read the data. This upholds the patients legal right to select the physician of her choice. Use of the PaDok system will not be restricted to breast cancer treatment or one region only. NASHIP is advocating nationwide deployment of systems such as PaDok, says NASHIPs telematics representative, Reinhold Mainz. ,For further information:,Dr. Volker Paul ,Telefon: +49/ 68 94 / 9 80-3 00 ,Fax: +49/ 68 94 / 9 80-4 00 ,E-mail: volker.paul@ibmt.fraunhofer.de Fraunhofer-Institut fur Biomedizinische Technik IBMT ,Ensheimer Stra?e 48 ,D-66386 St. Ingbert ,http://www.ibmt.fraunhofer.de/ Links: ,IBMT: Produktblatt 2000 (pdf) ,http://www.ibmt.fhg.de/Produktblaetter/MT_padokdaemon_de.pdf?/mainframes/,germany/press/presse_indikator.html Prasentation von PaDok, Sept. 2002 ,http://www.uni-protokolle.de/nachrichten/id/6531/ Kassenarztlichen Vereinigung Nordrhein ,http://www.kvno.de/ Messe MEDICA ,http://www10.medica.de/ ,
Countries
Germany