The electronic patient dossier (EPD) has been available in Switzerland since 2020, but according to the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), only 0.2 percent of the Swiss population use this service. "There are many fears surrounding the topic of digitalization in healthcare. This includes the fear of surveillance or data misuse," according to ZHAW health economist Alfred Angerer. These concerns must be taken seriously, but the public must also be aware of the immense benefits of digitization in healthcare. In the recently published Digital Health Report 2023/2024, ZHAW researchers propose solutions in collaboration with Accenture, CSS, and Swiss Post.

According to the Digital Health Report, numerous factors can have a positive effect on the acceptance of digitization in healthcare. These include a high level of user-friendliness but also the personal attitude and skills of individual users, including how familiar they are with digital applications and their affinity for technology. "A step towards digitization would mean enormous savings for patients in terms of quality and time. For example, health data would be available much faster. As a result, healthcare professionals would have the details of previous treatments and medications prescribed, and dangerous contraindications would be detected as a matter of course," Angerer explained. The ZHAW researcher added that this gain in the quality and efficiency of healthcare will mean fewer patient costs – a key concern in the light of constantly rising health insurance premiums.

Despite the clear benefits of a digital healthcare system, Switzerland still lags far behind in international comparison, according to ZHAW researcher Sina Berger. “The most remarkable thing is that all the necessary technical components are already in place. In fact, numerous companies have introduced technical applications to solve their problems.” The reasons why these solutions have not yet found their way into society are, she says, existing fears, on the one hand, and a lack of information, on the other. “With the current edition of the Digital Health Report, we want to encourage people to be more daring about digitization. To achieve the maximum added value, we must accept this change,” Berger concluded.

The associated expense offsets the enormous added value of digital transformation. According to Alfred Angerer, hospitals, medical practices, and citizens must invest time and financial resources to transition from the analog to the digital world. “We are aware of the effort that this requires, but it is essential to consider the long term. If we look beyond the one-time investment, digitization will save us all a lot of time, reduce human suffering through better quality, and help us fight rising costs.”