One of Austria’s key healthcare infrastructures is ELGA (the Electronic Health Record). It enables treating physicians to access medical documents, including doctors’ letters, discharge summaries, laboratory results and radiology reports (e-findings). ELGA is not a centralised database, but a central register that helps healthcare professionals locate data and information relevant to patient care. Access rights are strictly regulated by law and data protection requirements.
ELGA is gradually being expanded to include additional digital health services. The AIT Austrian Institute of Technology has played a pioneering role in this development, working closely with its partners. The introduction of the so-called Telemonitoring Episode Report marked a milestone: for the first time, an ELGA document was created that integrates health data recorded by patients themselves into their electronic health records.
This allows people with chronic conditions to actively contribute to their own health records. Measurements taken at home, such as blood pressure, heart rate and body weight, along with information about their well-being and medication intake, are compiled over a defined period (an “episode”). These data are combined with diagnoses and medical assessments and made available in ELGA through the relevant care programme. Both patients themselves and authorised healthcare professionals involved in their treatment can access the information across different healthcare facilities and care settings.
Telehealth solutions for better health
One highly successful telemonitoring system is HerzMobil, whose technological foundations were developed by AIT researchers in close collaboration with medical and nursing experts, particularly from Tirol Kliniken and the Tyrol Institute for Integrated Care (LIV Tirol).
HerzMobil supports people living with heart failure. Patients regularly enter data such as their weight, blood pressure, general well-being and medication details via a smartphone. This information is securely transmitted to their clinical care team. If any readings or other indicators raise concerns, the healthcare professionals responsible for the patient get in touch and adjust the treatment if necessary.
This means patients can remain at home in familiar surroundings while maintaining ongoing contact with their treating physicians. Telemonitoring improves access to healthcare and the quality of care, while also reducing the burden on the healthcare system and saving time and money.
The AIT technology was first introduced into routine care in Tyrol under the name HerzMobil Tirol. Studies showed a 65% reduction in the risk of death within twelve months and a 39% reduction in the risk of hospital readmission within six months. HerzMobil Tirol was also found to be cost-effective compared with standard care.
HerzMobil is now also used in healthcare projects in other Austrian provinces, including Styria, Carinthia, Lower Austria and Salzburg. In Styria, the project was initiated by the Styrian Health Fund and is jointly funded with the social health insurance system. The Styrian Hospital Corporation (KAGes) is responsible for implementation on behalf of the Health Fund, as well as for overall medical and nursing coordination.
In day-to-day healthcare delivery, the system is operated and further developed by telbiomed, an AIT spin-off based in Graz. Its modular design allows it to be gradually extended, in collaboration with healthcare partners, to support other chronic conditions and areas of care. These include wound management, eating disorders, post-transplant follow-up, diabetes, telerehabilitation and oncology. A telemedicine-supported patient journey for women with breast cancer has recently been launched in collaboration with the Graz Cancer Centre.
Survivorship Passport: Long-term care for childhood cancer survivors
Another valuable digital tool for modern healthcare is the Survivorship Passport. AIT experts developed the Austrian solution in collaboration with specialists from St. Anna Children’s Hospital and St. Anna Children’s Cancer Research Institute (CCRI) and integrated it into ELGA.
St. Anna Children’s Hospital became the first centre in Europe to fully integrate the Survivorship Passport into a national electronic health record system. By bringing together all relevant information, the tool significantly improves long-term follow-up care for childhood cancer survivors.
The Survivorship Passport represents a paradigm shift in cancer survivorship care: moving away from fragmented information towards continuous, transparent and quality-assured care across institutional and healthcare boundaries.
The aim is to make relevant information from initial cancer treatment and subsequent follow-up care during childhood available in a standardised digital format, thereby sustainably improving continuity and safety of care in adulthood. To achieve this, the Survivorship Passport brings together treatment histories and personalised follow-up recommendations in a structured format, making them accessible to patients and healthcare professionals through ELGA.
The Survivorship Passport was first piloted at St. Anna Children’s Hospital in Vienna, where it was successfully integrated into existing care processes. From a technical perspective, it is implemented as an ELGA outpatient report. This provides the foundation for wider rollout to additional centres and medical specialties. Like other AIT solutions, the Survivorship Passport has a modular, scalable design and can be adapted for use with other conditions.
Smart FOX: Donating health data for medical research
An important step towards the responsible use of electronic health data is the Smart FOX system. Led by AIT researchers, the project demonstrates how voluntary and secure health data donation can open up new opportunities for research, innovation and healthcare system planning.
Together with 19 partners from healthcare delivery, academia, patient advocacy and industry, the project has developed an infrastructure that enables citizens to play an active role in making their health data available for research for the first time. Participants can make informed decisions about whether their data may be used and for what purposes, with full transparency and clear control over how their information is shared.
Smart FOX is based on informed consent, the ability to withdraw participation and advanced security mechanisms that ensure access to health data is strictly limited to authorised purposes.
The system builds on ELGA’s existing infrastructure and extends it to support controlled access for research. This enables data from different systems to be securely combined and used for scientific purposes within a legally compliant framework. These capabilities are essential for more efficient clinical trials, more precise health analyses and better-informed public health decisions.
Experience gained through the project shows that citizens are willing to contribute to research when security, transparency and control are guaranteed. To support this, the project established a legally compliant operating model within a governance framework. Building on this foundation, an open technical infrastructure was developed and tested in several clinical studies.
Digitalising healthcare infrastructure
Through initiatives such as these, AIT has developed pioneering technologies that play a key role in modern healthcare and are helping to drive the further digitalisation of Austria’s healthcare infrastructure.
AIT develops digital health solutions in close collaboration with medical and nursing experts and partners across the healthcare sector. Their practical experience informs the development and testing of these technologies, ensuring that solutions address real-world needs in healthcare delivery.
AIT’s extensive expertise has also earned it significant international recognition. In addition to organising the annual dHealth conference, a key platform for Austria’s digital health community, AIT researchers have received numerous awards, including the prestigious Living Standards Award presented by Austrian Standards.
AIT: Research for the infrastructure of tomorrow
More than 1,600 staff members work every day at the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology on the key infrastructure issues of the future, particularly in the fields of energy, mobility, health and data. At AIT, the infrastructure of tomorrow is conceived and researched. Austria's largest research and technology organisation, AIT acts as a bridge between science and innovation, collaborating with industry and public institutions across the entire innovation chain – from the initial idea through to implementation. To further develop future-proof technologies, the AIT operates Austria’s most advanced research infrastructure, with specialised laboratories for energy, mobility, urban planning, digital security, food security and much more. AIT research makes a difference and creates solutions – for industry, society and, ultimately, for us all.
https://www.ait.ac.at/en/research-topics/digital-health
https://www.telbiomed.at/