gms | German Medical Science

Professor Wolfgang Giere is one of the pioneers of medical informatics in Germany. Starting in the 1960s, he played a major role in the development of the field, for example, through a computer-aided system for intelligent support of physician letter writing (Befunddokumentation und Arztbriefschreibung im Krankenhaus, BAIK), which was used in clinical routine for the first time in 1968.

Therefore, as a medical informatician and editor-in-chief of GMS MIBE, I deeply appreciate that Wolfgang Giere has reflected on the six decades from his professional perspective in his article “Verpasste Chancen – Nachdenken über Fehlentwicklungen der Medizinischen Informatik” [1]. A review over a period of six decades by a person who has followed the developments of our field with such dedication is an excellent opportunity for reflection for today’s medical informaticians.

Nevertheless, as I understand it, the title of the paper challenges all medical informaticians to engage in scientific discourse. What opportunities and innovations have arisen from the developments in medical informatics over the last six decades? Which achievements can be contrasted with the alleged misguided developments? I hereby cordially invite you to comment on the article in the form of a short contribution to GMS MIBE.

The author declares that she has no competing interests.