Innovative IT solutions can make a decisive contribution to improving patient care. Countless amounts of data are collected every day in clinics, doctors' surgeries and in research. In their entirety, they form an important treasure trove of data for research, but this can only be used nationwide if the data formats and IT systems fit together.

This is where the BMBF comes in with the multi-phase funding concept of the Medical Informatics Initiative (MII). It lays the central foundations for digitized health data to be made accessible across locations and used for research. In the current funding phase, the focus is on expanding the structures created in all university hospitals and their collaboration. The institutions are to network even more closely with each other and with other funding programs and health research initiatives. The concrete added value of digitalization in health research for patients, medical staff and science is demonstrated in particular by the cross-institutional clinical use cases.

As one of four consortia, DIFUTURE focuses on providing use cases and software components, improving cross-consortium interoperability, further interaction with national and international partners and increasing the impact of data integration centers in the healthcare sector.

The long-term goal of the MII is to create a more efficient, digitally networked healthcare system that supports medical staff, researchers and patients in detecting diseases better and earlier and finding the best possible therapy for each individual.