Firely helps you go digital for the German Hospital Future Act (KHZG)

Up to 4.3 billion Euros in funding for digitization measures will be available to hospitals in Germany in the future. The schedule is tight! In many federal states, the application for funding must be submitted soon. Applications for funding must be submitted via the state authorities by December 31, 2021, and the funded projects must be implemented by 2024. Projects already running since September 2020 are also eligible for funding.

What is the hospital future act (KHZG)? 

The hospital future act or “Krankenhauszukunftsgesetz” (KHZG) was passed by the German Bundestag in 2020. Federal and state governments can grant a total of 4.3 billion euros for investment in emergency care, IT security, and digitization at hospitals via the hospital future fund (Krankenhauszukunftsfonds – KHZF). The prerequisite for applying for a funding grant is the suitability of the projects, which must aim at the following funding goals as described in § 19 Abs. 1 KHZG. 

What are the 11 funding goals? 

1. Adaptation of hospital emergency rooms to current technical standards 
2. Establishment of patient portals for digital admission and discharge management 
3. Complete electronic documentation of treatment and care services 
4. Automated clinical decision support systems 
5. Digital medication management 
6. Internal hospital digital processes for requesting services 
7. Structured coordination of services offered by multiple hospitals, e.g., via a cloud computing system 
8. Establishment of online-based care record systems for beds 
9. Establishment of a telemedicine network structure between hospitals and outpatient facilities, robotics-based equipment, systems, or procedures 
10. IT and cybersecurity 
11. Adaptation of patient rooms in the event of an epidemic  

FHIR is at the heart of the KHZG and healthcare digitalisation 

The FHIR data standard is an integral requirement for all digitization projects. The KHZG requires uniform data processing standards that have been tested in clinical practice.

The requirement to eliminate system and process discontinuities and to create semantic interoperability between all those involved in the treatment process is the common thread running through the law and the funding goals. The implementation of consensual standards, first and foremost the German FHIR® base profiles, is mandatory (see funding goals 2-6, 9).