The Mastermind
Interview with Dr. Volker Leonhardt, CEO and Co-Founder of SEMDATEX
Dr. Volker Leonhardt looks back on over 36 years of experience in the implantation and aftercare of cardiac devices such as pacemakers, ICDs and CRTs. Under his leadership, SEMDATEX develops innovative solutions that enable secure and efficient communication and access to patient data for doctors - a decisive step for the future of telemedicine.
What is SEMDATEX's mission?
Dr. Leonhardt: The mission of SEMDATEX is to provide doctors with the technical tools to securely access patient data at any time and to enable smooth communication between doctor and patient. For patients, this means receiving optimal care without sacrificing mobility or quality of life. At the same time, we support doctors in caring for more patients efficiently and safely, while the quality of treatment remains assured through certified standards. Through certification and quality standards, we create demonstrably careful treatment.
What telemonitoring solutions does SEMDATEX currently offer?
Our absolute top product at the moment is our inCareNet HF platform. With this platform, we offer a patient management platform for patients with heart failure that is supported by the German Association of Registered Cardiologists (BNK). Users of the platform can use it to easily and securely monitor patients in accordance with the decision taken by the Federal Joint Committee in 2020 to make telemonitoring for patients with heart failure part of standard care. And this applies not only to patients with cardiac implants but also to patients with external sensors. Both groups can be monitored on our platform with the highest safety standards. In addition, we offer the option of generating reports and statistics, such as the annual statistics required by health insurance companies (KV). inCareNet platform is also the basis for other solutions in European and national funding projects in the field of secondary prevention after myocardial infarction and in the care sector. These solutions are specially tailored to the required use case and, like all solutions in the inCareNet family, offer the highest security standards, performance and ease of use.
"Telemedicine gives doctors the opportunity to obtain all information about their patients anytime and anywhere."
— Dr. Volker Leonhardt
What are the biggest challenges for cardiologists when caring for patients with heart failure?
Patients with cardiovascular disease, particularly heart failure, are the largest group for cardiologists, and this group is growing as people get older. This creates a twofold problem for the doctor: more patients with heart failure and older, often immobile patients. Direct doctor-patient contact remains important, but the intervals between appointments must be designed in such a way that safety and treatment quality are not compromised. Telemedicine is the tool that enables doctors to care for a larger and sicker patient population while allowing patients to live at home for as long as possible.
How can telemonitoring facilitate the work of cardiologists in everyday practice?
Telemedicine gives doctors the opportunity to receive all information about their patients anytime and anywhere. The doctor can then decide for himself when to integrate this information into his daily routine, process it and react to it - as quickly as possible, of course. It is extremely important for the doctor to have this direct access to health data in order to provide effective treatment. At the same time, telemedicine is a wonderful tool for the patient to be able to stay at home for as long as possible without the hassle of transportation to the doctor or hospital. Both doctor and patient have the same goal: to keep the patient out of hospital for as long as possible. This is because a heart failure patient stays in hospital for an average of 14 days, which not only incurs high costs, but also reduces the patient's quality of life and chances of survival. The less often a patient has to be hospitalized due to decompensation, the longer they live.
Which parameters are measured in patients with heart failure? To what extent do these measurements improve the patient's quality of life?
This means that the patient subjectively assesses and reports their quality of life every morning. This includes heart rate, blood pressure, ECG and weight. In addition, we are able to integrate virtually all wearables and tools that are being developed now or in the future.
Why is this possible?
Because the software is highly compatible and can be integrated into all common systems, i.e. in medical practices or clinics.
Are there efforts to move in the direction of mental health? Especially with regard to prevention?
Sure, you could do that. But we don't go as far as doing a small mental health test every day. We have a tablet from our partner company Getemed, where the patient indicates whether they feel better or worse today than they did yesterday. It has to be simple and easy to evaluate, as many of our patients are very elderly. A system works best when the patient has to interact as little as possible, and we make sure of that. We can also include implant patients.