News
Since the beginning of the Corona pandemic at the latest, the term “telemedicine” has probably become familiar to the whole world. Where once there were concerns about feasibility and the needs and acceptance of users, today there are questions about implementation in existing processes and remuneration for these services.
Gian-Andrea Degen, former master student at Alfred and currently consultant at PWC in the healthcare advisory area (with a focus on digital health and telemedicine), is just the right guest to roll up the topic together and discuss the current issues and challenges.
The podcast "Marktplatz Gesundheitswesen" is the podcast on healthcare management and leadership. Alfred Angerer and Stefan Lienhard interview exciting people with whom they discuss current trends. In doing so, they are looking in a forward-looking direction, with topics such as digitalization and process optimization not neglected.
News
Empa, together with EBP and Fussverkehr Schweiz, analyzed in spring 2022 in Thalwil (ZH) how pedestrians react to automated vehicles. The automated parking assistant that had been used is the first system approved in Switzerland that moves a vehicle without a person sitting in it. The findings of the research project, which was co-financed by AXA’s Foundation for Prevention, create an important basis for prevention measures and design principles for sustainable road spaces.
Automated driving will shape everyday urban mobility in the future. However, many questions are still open, such as how pedestrians will react to automated vehicles and how a sustainable and safe mobility system can be designed for all road users. The research project "Pedestrians and Automated Driving" provides initial answers and opens up the dialog on interaction between automated vehicles and pedestrians, which is crucial for the future.
In this first phase of the project, field studies were conducted on two test days in Thalwil to determine how pedestrians react to an automated vehicle in real-life situations. To this end, parking situations were carried out with a vehicle equipped with a parking assistant. Empa experts contributed their in-depth knowhow about vehicle technology to this social science pilot study. "Safety was of central importance in the field studies. Our research team ensured that the vehicle was properly equipped and also operated correctly," explains Empa researcher Miriam Elser. Also involved in the field studies was project manager Bettina Zahnd from EBP Switzerland: "What we noticed already on the first day of the trial is that many people react to the driverless vehicle and look for eye contact with a person who is in control of the car." This finding was confirmed in the interviews: Almost 70% of the interviewees recognized the driverless car and 60% of the interviewees saw or actively looked for the person in charge.
The reactions of the passers-by varied depending on their age. For example, older passers-by sought eye contact with a responsible person more often than younger people did. In addition, older people were more wary of the new technology, whereas younger people assume that the technology works or it hardly impresses them. The results further point to a knowledge gap in the population: For only about 20% of respondents, the topic of "automated driving" was not entirely new. Many people are not yet aware that driverless technologies are already approved in Switzerland. The project team recommends, for example, an information campaign as a possible measure to raise public awareness of the topic.
Also of interest: Roughly the same number of people are neutral/positive as negative about automated vehicles. It is clear that automated vehicles will play an increasingly important role in Swiss traffic in the future and that the discourse about this must be stimulated already today.
News
The ZHAW is researching with Swiss universities and industry partners how hospitals can implement the digital transformation. The Innosuisse flagship project “SHIFT” runs until 2025.
Modern forms of organization, digital technologies such as virtual reality or artificial intelligence, and the networking of processes and data can turn the hospital into an intelligent system and increase quality and efficiency. For three and a half years, a consortium led by the ZHAW is researching how this transformation to the hospital of the future can be implemented - together with four other research partners, around 20 hospitals and 24 industry partners. The research project "Smart Hospital - Integrated Framework, Tools & Solutions" (SHIFT) runs until June 2025. It has a total budget of 5.7 million Swiss francs and is supported as a flagship project by Innosuisse, the Swiss agency for innovation promotion.
Hospitals are the central and largest players in the healthcare system in terms of costs. "Accordingly, we have a particularly effective lever here to better tap the potential of digitalisation. Within the framework of SHIFT, we can, in a sense, develop a blueprint for the digital transformation of the entire healthcare system," explains ZHAW health economist Alfred Angerer, one of the two co-leaders of the research program.
Digital technologies help hospitals to better cope with challenges such as cost pressure, demographic change or higher quality demands. One example is data-based forecasting models for predicting, planning and optimizing workforce scheduling. In addition, sensors and apps can, for example, help to promote physical activity in patients after surgery and provide healthcare professionals with corresponding data for monitoring treatment goals.
"The 'Smart Hospital' is thus characterised, among other things, by more proactive care for patients and by putting people even more at the center of processes," says Sven Hirsch, co-leader of SHIFT and head of the ZHAW Digital Health Lab. Digitisation will generally increase the possibilities for detecting diseases earlier or even preventing them. "With their help, we can also adapt the treatment even better to the patients. For example, we can discharge some of them earlier from the hospital to their familiar environment at home and still continue to treat them," adds Jens Eckstein, internist at the University Hospital Basel and Medical Director of SHIFT.
The research program comprises three areas: In the first, research is being conducted into how inpatient treatment in hospital and outpatient follow-up care for patients at home can be seamlessly linked with the help of digital technologies. The second is about developing solutions to further strengthen the ability of staff and patients to act in everyday hospital life. The third area concerns the development of effective and efficient hospital management processes.
The Innosuisse flagship project SHIFT is led by the Institute of Health Economics of the ZHAW School of Management and Law, together with an interdisciplinary ZHAW team from informatics, health, data analysis and process design. In addition to the University Hospital Basel, the Universities of Basel and Zurich, the FHNW and the participating hospitals, 24 industrial partners contribute to the integration of the project into practice. With its Flagship Initiative, Innosuisse promotes innovations in areas that are relevant to a large part of the economy and society. SHIFT is one of the 15 research projects approved in the 2021 Flagship call.
Voices
Oliver Schärli, Head of Market Area Corporate Clients, explains what innovation means to him and how innovation can arise.
Voices
Thomas Gemperle is Co-Founder and Chief Branding Officer at Scewo. Scewo develops smart technologies with futuristic design and foolproof operation. What this adds up to? The Scewo Bro, an electric wheelchair that can climb stairs - up or down. In the video, Thomas tells how the idea came about and what challenges the young founders had to contend with.
Voices
Innovations are increasingly created in collaboration between different players. Many issues, e.g. in health, cannot be solved by one player alone due to their complexity. Strong innovation networks are needed for collaborations, in which companies find the right partner from business and science, build trust and jointly drive innovations forward. These networks form around innovation hubs in which large companies, SMEs and start-ups can exchange ideas and business and science can cross-fertilise.
Alfred Angerer is Professor of Healthcare Management at the ZHAW School of Management and Law. At the ZHAW, Alfred Angerer founded the "ZHAW Digital Health Lab" together with colleagues from various institutes to promote an interdisciplinary approach to digital health.
Coworking Spaces
The Impact Hub is a community of entrepreneurs, developers, techies, freelancers, creatives and more. In our coworking space, our community works (together) to build a radically collaborative world.
Impact Hub Zürich Colab
Sihlquai 131
8005 Zürich
Impact Hub Zürich Viadukt
Viaduktstrasse 93-95
8005 Zürich
Innovation Hubs
In the heart of the Swiss business center, Trust Square offers two places where entrepreneurs, startups, universities, and investors from blockchain, technology, and innovation come together to implement and realize ideas. We offer you private offices and working desks at Rennweg and Paradeplatz. Our events inspire, connect, and promote exchange, and our Service Portfolio enables us to bring concepts and ideas to success. The Venture Service team assists our clients with daily operations so they can focus on their core business and growth.
Poststrasse 5-7
8001 Zürich
Innovation Hubs
It is precisely in the early phase of a startup's business development that the course is set that will massively influence its future chances of success. Professional guidance and support for young entrepreneurs is of central importance here, because they usually do not have management experience and access to infrastructure.
The glatec support association operates a "Business Incubator" in Dübendorf to facilitate and support startups and innovation processes in the field of materials science, environmental science and technology.
Empa
Überlandstrasse 129
8600 Dübendorf
Support
Since 1989, the IFJ Institut für Jungunternehmen has accompanied 175,000 company founders on their way to independence.
As a pioneer and industry leader, IFJ offers Switzerland’s most widely used digital services for incorporations, changes in the commercial register and trademark protection. Tools for developing your business plan, for accounting and administration as well as the fiduciary service make entrepreneurial work easier. The free webinars, courses and lecture events with active networking as well as checklists, legal support and comprehensive advice accompany founders before, during and after setting up a company.
Wiesenstrasse 10A
8952 Schlieren
Assistance with online incorporation service, changes in the commercial register, trademark protection, fiduciary trustee services, legal support, webinars, course, presentations, networking.
Corporate Innovation Labs
II-VI Laser Enterprise GmbH is an internationally active and innovative company which belongs to the II-VI Incorporated group. We develop, produce and sell laser technology and hold a leading position on the world market. The products are highly complex and the production is carried out with the most modern equipment and processes.
Binzstrasse 17
8046 Zürich
Development and production of semiconductor lasers for applications in optical communication, material processing and medical technology.
Universities
The Robotic Systems Lab (RSL) develops machines and their intelligence, enabling them to operate autonomously in rough and challenging environments. With a focus on robots with arms and legs (e.g., quadrupedal robots, mobile manipulators, hybrid wheel–leg systems), the lab’s research subjects include novel actuation methods for advanced dynamic interaction, innovative designs for increased system mobility and versatility, and new control, optimization and learning algorithms for locomotion and manipulation.
Leonhardstrasse 21
8092 Zurich
Robotics, Actation, Autonomy, Control, ML
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