Jochen A. Werner on Digitalizing Healthcare and Smart Hospitals

2019-03-21
Prof. Dr. Jochen A. Werner, Medical Director and CEO of the Essen University Clinic, provides insights into the clinics’ approach to digitalization.

Professor Dr. Jochen A. Werner, Medical Director and CEO of the Essen University Hospital, talks about the idea of the “Smart Hospital” and the role of digitalization in a hospital setting.


Prof. Dr. Werner is firmly convinced that “digitalization will make medicine better.” When he took office a few years ago as Medical Director and CEO of the Essen University Hospital, he established digitalization as a corporate objective, and thus paved the way for the “Smart Hospital.”
As Prof. Dr. Werner sees it, hospital digitalization provides greater patient safety because there are fewer sources of error – since doctors and nursing staff can concentrate better on their core tasks. “Medicine today has a problem with processes and structures, not with knowledge,” he explains. “We have the knowledge, but we don’t draw on it enough. And yet it could help us take medicine a big leap ahead.”


Professor Jochen A. Werner

Professor Jochen A. Werner, CEO of Essen University Hospital, and his team are paving the way to a ‘Smart Hospital’ that uses a range of digital applications. These include AI, computer-assisted surgery, and a robotics center. In a personal talk, Professor Werner, thought leader and key influencer in the industry, shared insights into how he is leading Essen University Clinic on its path to digital transformation.