Fachhochschule Dortmund has developed a specially adapted clinical information system for the non-profit organization "Friedensdorf International". The new software solution enables the care of injured and sick children from war and crisis zones to be optimally documented and coordinated.
"The advantages over the old system are enormous," says Thomas Killmann, Deputy Director of "Friedensdorf International" in Dinslaken. "We now have a very clear overview of all cases in which we bring children to Europe for medical treatment." After a test phase in which the new OPICAD (Ontology and Phenomenon based International Children's Aid Documentation) software was used in parallel with the previous system, the final adjustments have now been completed.
The children from war and crisis zones such as Afghanistan and Angola receive medical treatment and care - both in "Friedensdorf International's" own home and in external hospitals and surgeries throughout Germany. Last year, over 230 children from nine nations were able to come to Germany for medical treatment. Follow-up care is provided in the in-house rehabilitation center. Coordinating the flow of information with the various departments and service providers is a particular challenge.
Linking of all information
"In addition to personal master data, we also use OPICAD to record details such as diagnoses, measures and incidents," explains Thomas Killmann. The documentation can be filtered by time, and task lists can also be generated interactively using a calendar function and cross-file printouts can be created. Additional documents such as X-ray images or medical reports are also assigned to the respective child in the database and are available in common file formats at the touch of a button. "The linking of all information is a great relief both for the treatment and for the organization, including traceability at different locations," emphasizes Thomas Killmann, himself a graduate of Computer Engineering at Fachhochschule Dortmund.
Eva Maria Hartmann, research assistant to Prof. Dr. Peter Haas at the Faculty of Computer Science, played a key role in programming the new system and adapting it in detail to the requirements of "Friedensdorf International". Eva Maria Hartmann completed her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Medical Informatics at Fachhochschule Dortmund as one of the best in her year. She then began her doctorate in 2021 in cooperation with the University of Duisburg-Essen at the "WisPerMed" research training group (knowledge- and data-based personalization of medicine at the point of care).