Booster or game over

Future of SAP IS-Healthcare in the DACH region

SAP discontinued IS-H, and for a long time the healthcare industry, and hospitals in particular, faced the challenge that there would be no successor to SAP's industry solutions Patient Management (known as IS-H) for healthcare facilities and Cerner i.s.h.med, the clinical information system from partner Cerner. One of the first reactions: Many hospitals also halted the S/4 conversion already underway and are considering possibly leaving the SAP community altogether.

Healthcare Booster

It is difficult to understand why SAP is leaving the healthcare market with many new and innovative products. Artificial intelligence, greater connectivity, augmented and virtual reality, and wearables are increasingly shaping the healthcare sector. They are already leading to efficiency gains as well as improvements in therapies and health maintenance. The healthcare metaverse is seen as a potentially major innovation. For many experts, it could even become a game changer in numerous medical application areas. In a new study, the management and technology consultancy BearingPoint and the Handelsblatt Research Institute (HRI) have taken a closer look at the potential of a healthcare metaverse.

SAP is obviously not interested in this gamechanger. SAP has given a maintenance commitment for the ERP/ECC 6.0 software until December 31, 2027, which is followed by a chargeable, optional extended maintenance until the end of 2030. While numerous DSAG surveys show that more and more companies are preparing to migrate their systems to the new S/4 environment or have already done so, the switch to this new ERP generation poses particular challenges for healthcare providers such as clinics or hospitals. Until recently, it was unclear what would happen next for healthcare users who had previously relied on IS-H. "Now there is certainty: For the industry solution IS-H, there will only be customer-specific maintenance from 2031. From DSAG's point of view, this is very disappointing," says Hermann-Josef Haag, DSAG Board Member for Human Resources and Public Sector.

Digital twin

In addition to the existing interfaces, SAP will offer further different options for integrating hospital information systems that are to map the previous IS-H functionalities into the S/4 system in the future. The functionalities for patient administration and billing that have been mapped in IS-H to date are to be covered in the future by modern hospital information systems from various manufacturers. To what extent or whether the clinical information system from Cerner (i.s.h. med) will make this possible in the future is still open. 

For several years now, the healthcare sector in Germany has been undergoing a digital transformation. With regard to new offerings in the field of telemedicine, the potential of a healthcare metaverse is also increasingly being discussed. Stefan Savu, Partner at BearingPoint: "A central aspect for the metaverse is the concept of the digital twin, the avatar - that is, a digital copy of ourselves. A healthcare metaverse could thus become a real gamechanger for the entire healthcare sector, helping us to live even healthier and also longer in the future." SAP no longer seems interested in this development.