People are living longer than ever. As a result, the chance of developing cardiovascular disease is increasing. Professor Sebastian Kerber, MD, Head of Cardiology at RHÖN-KLINIKUM Campus Bad Neustadt, explains how modern technology helps to optimally connect prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and care in the hospital of the future.

When you enter Kerber’s office, the first thing you notice is the picture on the wall behind him showing parts of a violin from different angles. The picture alludes to his great personal passion for music and for playing this particularly demanding instrument. Equally challenging is his professional passion: providing the best possible care for his patients.

Kerber (58) has been Chief Physician at the Clinic for Cardiology I – Interventional Cardiology ¹ and Cardiac Imaging in Bad Neustadt since 2001. Every day, he sees proof of what the statistics are telling us: Society is steadily aging. Today, roughly half of all the patients admitted to hospital for surgery are already over 60 years old. At the same time, the number of heart disease patients, in particular those with structural heart diseases (heart valve disease), continues to rise.

Diagnostic imaging ² is becoming increasingly important in therapy. In the hospital of the future, much of what used to be done consecutively will have to take place almost simultaneously. “If an 80-year-old calls the emergency services because he is experiencing chest pain or acute respiratory distress, the paramedics will attach the ECG electrodes and also send the patient’s data directly to the hospital as they drive there,” explains Kerber. “As a result, doctors gain a time advantage in this life-threatening situation and are able to prepare additional measures.” If, as is frequently the case, a heart valve defect is diagnosed, “valve replacement usually no longer requires us to open the chest and connect the patient to a heart-lung machine.”

Instead, heart valve defects are frequently treated using minimally invasive ³ catheter-based techniques via either vessels in the groin or the heart apex. Without this far less invasive procedure, it would not be possible to operate on many older patients, who often have pre-existing conditions such as obesity, high blood pressure, stroke, or renal dysfunction.

Unlike the clinic’s sunny entrance hall, which is rather more reminiscent of a luxury hotel lobby, the cardiac catheterization laboratory on the floor above is dominated by the hospital colors of light blue and turquoise. Sterile instruments lie ready. In the center of the room stands a patient table with the latest imaging technology from Siemens Healthineers grouped around it. “We can obtain additional insights – for example, how severely the heart valve is impaired or whether other vessels are also affected – using contrast-enhanced computed tomography and cardiac catheterization,” explains Kerber, putting on a lead apron and entering the laboratory.

RHÖN-KLINIKUM Campus Bad Neustadt opened at the beginning of this year. The campus (which has several cafés, beautiful lawns, a stream, and good infrastructure – everything from a bank to a flower shop) combines inpatient and outpatient care with a large number of medical and preventive services that used to be performed at separate facilities. Specialist medical practices, departments for various medical specialties, and care and rehabilitation units all work together, hand in hand – with the various players revolving around patients like satellites orbiting the earth. Yet it is not only essential for individual medical departments to work together as a network; medical technology suppliers such as Siemens Healthineers are also crucial partners in this process.

Kerber meets with Associate Professor Lukas Lehmkuhl, MD, Head of Diagnostic Radiology, to discuss patients’ scans in an evaluation room with three monitors. Some 600 cardiac CT scans and roughly 1,400 cardiac MRI exams are carried out at RHÖN-KLINIKUM Campus Bad Neustadt each year. Cardiologists and radiologists collaborate very closely on evaluating the images. New clinical pathways in cardiology increasingly call for the integration of modern imaging technologies, such as cardiovascular CT and MRI, and for new working environments and procedures, including in the field of invasive cardiology. “The radiology department is extremely important for those of us working in cardiology. Without it, we would be unable to make considered decisions on the best treatments,” says Kerber.

Providing optimal treatment for cardiovascular ⁴ patients requires both clinical and technological cooperation partners. Petra Veit, Marketing Manager Cardiology at medical technology partner Siemens Healthineers, meets with Kerber in the large foyer at the campus. “That’s why we at Siemens Healthineers don’t see ourselves solely as technology suppliers, but rather as consultants. We aim to establish a dialogue between equals. Cooperating with strong clinical partners who have successfully integrated multimodal treatment strategies into their clinical routine, we at Siemens Healthineers want to act as a holistic solution provider in the clinical field. We are guided by our commitment to expanding precision medicine, transforming care delivery, improving patient experience, and digitalizing healthcare,” explains Veit. This is also confirmed by Kerber, who has been working closely with Siemens Healthineers for many years. “For me, it’s crucial that Siemens Healthineers doesn’t just manufacture equipment – it develops the right innovations for the ideal sequence of diagnostics and therapy, tailored specifically to our hospital.”

In recent years, everyone involved has accomplished a great deal together, in particular to improve care for older heart patients. But what will the ideal hospital of the future eventually look like?

says Kerber. “That’s what I want from the hospital of the future.”

Siemens Healthineers AG (listed in Frankfurt, Germany: SHL) is shaping the future of Healthcare. As a leading medical technology company headquartered in Erlangen, Germany, Siemens Healthineers enables healthcare providers worldwide through its regional companies to increase value by empowering them on their journey towards expanding precision medicine, transforming care delivery, improving the patient experience, and digitalizing healthcare. Siemens Healthineers is continuously developing its product and service portfolio, with AI-supported applications and digital offerings that play an increasingly important role in the next generation of medical technology. These new applications will enhance the company’s foundation in in-vitro diagnostic, image-guided therapy, and in-vivo diagnostics. Siemens Healthineers also provides a range of services and solutions to enhance healthcare providers ability to provide high-quality, efficient care to patients. In fiscal 2019, which ended on September 30, 2019, Siemens Healthineers, which has approximately 52,000 employees worldwide, generated revenue of €14.5 billion and adjusted profit of €2.5 billion.

Further information is available at www.siemens-healthineers.com.