COVID-19 and Severe Acute Respiratory Infections: Monitoring Trends in 421 German Hospitals During the First Four Pandemic Waves.

Introduction: Reliable surveillance systems to monitor trends of COVID-19 case numbers and the associated healthcare burden play a central role in efficient pandemic management. In Germany, the federal government agency Robert-Koch-Institute uses an ICD-code-based inpatient surveillance system, ICOSARI, to assess temporal trends of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) and COVID-19 hospitalization numbers. In a similar approach, we present a large-scale analysis covering four pandemic waves derived from the Initiative of Quality Medicine (IQM), a German-wide network of acute care hospitals.

A Digital Infrastructure for Cardiovascular Patient Care Based on Mobile Health Data and Patient-Reported Outcomes: Concept Details of the Helios TeleWear Project Including Preliminary Experiences.

Background: Mobile health (mHealth) approaches are already having a fundamental impact on clinical practice in cardiovascular medicine. A variety of different health apps and wearable devices for capturing health data such as electrocardiograms (ECGs) exist. However, most mHealth technologies focus on distinct variables without integrating patients' quality of life, and the impact on clinical outcome measures of implementing those digital solutions into cardiovascular health care is still to be determined.

Changing trends of patient characteristics and treatment pathways during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional analysis of 72,459 inpatient cases from the German Helios database.

Background: This study compared patient profiles and clinical courses of SARS-CoV-2 infected inpatients over different pandemic periods.

Methods: In a retrospective cross-sectional analysis, we examined administrative data of German Helios hospitals using ICD-10-codes at discharge. Inpatient cases with SARS-CoV-2 infection admitted between 03/04/2020 and 07/19/2022 were included irrespective of the reason for hospitalization.

Characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 patients during B.1.1.529 (Omicron) dominance compared to B.1.617.2 (Delta) in 89 German hospitals.

Background: The SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.

Machine learning-derived prediction of in-hospital mortality in patients with severe acute respiratory infection: analysis of claims data from the German-wide Helios hospital network.

Background: Severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) are the most common infectious causes of death. Previous work regarding mortality prediction models for SARI using machine learning (ML) algorithms that can be useful for both individual risk stratification and quality of care assessment is scarce. We aimed to develop reliable models for mortality prediction in SARI patients utilizing ML algorithms and compare its performances with a classic regression analysis approach.

Burden of hospital-acquired SARS-CoV-2 infections in Germany: occurrence and outcomes of different variants.

Background: Avoiding in-hospital transmissions has been crucial in the COVID-19 pandemic. Little is known on the extent to which hospital-acquired SARS-CoV-2 variants have caused infections in Germany.

Aim: To analyse the occurrence and the outcomes of HAI with regard to different SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Spinal Fusion Procedures for Spinal Infections in a Nationwide Hospital Network in Germany.

Background:  The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on surgical spine care is difficult to assess due to a lack in nationwide evidence from more recent phases of the pandemic. We aimed to describe changes in in-hospital processes associated with spinal fusion procedures in the treatment of spinal infections (SI) during different phases of the pandemic.

Methods:  In this retrospective observational study, we examined the in-hospital prevalence and outcomes of spinal fusion procedures for SI (along with patient characteristics, rates of transfer to intensive care units, and mortality rates) during the first four waves of the pandemic compared with the corresponding prepandemic periods in 2019.

Regulatory, Legal, and Market Aspects of Smart Wearables for Cardiac Monitoring.

In the area of cardiac monitoring, the use of digitally driven technologies is on the rise. While the development of medical products is advancing rapidly, allowing for new use-cases in cardiac monitoring and other areas, regulatory and legal requirements that govern market access are often evolving slowly, sometimes creating market barriers. This article gives a brief overview of the existing clinical studies regarding the use of smart wearables in cardiac monitoring and provides insight into the main regulatory and legal aspects that need to be considered when such products are intended to be used in a health care setting.