Category: Blog 2025

Key functions

Via GeRDa, hospitals can manage their service group applications securely and conveniently online. The portal offers, among other things:

• Management of master data and user accounts
• Regular import of InEK data for benchmarking and analyses
• Digital submission of service group applications
• Automated status management with notifications
• Electronic submission of applications to MWG and the Medical Service
• The digital system ensures:
• Statistical evaluations of application status, deadlines and capacity utilization
• Role concepts for the ministry, institutions and payers to process the same institution’s documents in parallel
• Secure access to civil protection plans via password-protected documents
• Research options in the system by exporting data to CSV files
• Recording of calculation and occupancy days, case numbers and planned beds by institutions and the ministry, as well as calculation of length of stay, utilization period and average occupied beds/places

Additional functions, such as advanced evaluations, automated reminders or the integration of expert report uploads, are being implemented, and further digital services are being planned.

More transparency and speed

GeRDa creates a central data basis for digital communication, application submission and data capture in Rhineland-Palatinate.

The digital system ensures:

• On-time and traceable application submission
• High data integrity and security
• Consistent data that complies with data protection requirements
• Accelerated coordination processes between all parties involved

An important step towards digital modernization

The development of GeRDa shows how close collaboration between the ministry, IDG Rhineland-Palatinate and IT-Choice creates modern, user-oriented solutions.

Together, we continue to drive forward the digitalization and simplification of administrative processes in healthcare and create a solid foundation for future digital projects in the public health service.

Florian Born, Deputy Head of the Health Department at MWG, confirms: “Thanks to the professional collaboration with IT-Choice, we were able to develop a powerful and user-friendly portal that significantly optimizes our internal processes and structures the dialogue with hospitals.”

IT-Choice is developing a new Trusted Third Party for the NCT

The goal of the new NCT Trusted Third Party is to establish a central, independent platform that optimally integrates data protection, data quality, and research organization. In the future, the new Trusted Third Party is intended to combine identity, pseudonym, and consent management in a secure, modern web application.

What the new NCT trust office will deliver

The application will be gradually expanded into a central infrastructure for study participant management and will offer the following functions, among others:

• Identity data management: Administration and organization of study participants and metadata, identification of duplicate study participants
• Pseudonym management: Generation, management, and re-identification of pseudonyms, both for studies conducted at the NCT and for the transfer of data to the central NCT Data Repository and for secondary use of the data
• Consent management: Documentation of digital consents in accordance with the FHIR standard via the GRAVITY IntegrationServer
• Service functions: Correction of identity data, clarification and correction of uncertain matches – or patients incorrectly identified as identical –, implementation of requests based on data subject rights under the GDPR, contacting the relevant bodies in the event of data protection breaches, processing withdrawals, and much more

All components are accessible via a secure web interface and standardized APIs and can be seamlessly integrated into the existing systems at NCT sites.

Collaboration for a modern research infrastructure

By developing the new NCT trust office, the DKFZ, the NCT sites, and IT-Choice are pursuing a common goal: to further modernize the digital infrastructure of clinical research.

The solution is intended to help securely connect data, simplify processes, and strengthen collaboration between research and care.

Our colleague Fabienne Streisel, who has been closely involved in the process on our side, emphasizes the significance of this milestone:

“By successfully completing the verification, we can make a significant contribution to a reliable and precise solution for tumor documentation. It was great to see how our collaboration with the pilot centers led to this important milestone.”

In addition to OncoBox Lung, ONKOSTAR has already been successfully verified for OncoBox Breast, OncoBox Colon, and OncoBox Prostate. This allows us to offer comprehensive support for quality-assured documentation in several organ cancer centers.

We sincerely thank all participants for their support!

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Further information on OncoBox can be found at: https://www.xml-oncobox.de/

2025 Recap

October 23 and 24 – BUKO 2025 in Hannover

On October 23 and 24, 2025, we participated as an exhibitor at the National Congress (BUKO) 2025 of BUVEBA e.V. in Hannover. BUVEBA, the National Association of Non-Medical Study Personnel in Clinical Research, is committed to promoting professional training and strengthening study coordination as an essential component of clinical research. Its goal is to represent the interests of all professionals working in this field and to sustainably improve the framework conditions for their work.

For two days, the attending professional audience had the opportunity to learn about STUDYSTAR, our digital solution for efficient study management, at our exhibition stand.

October 23 – ATO Conference in Freiburg

On October 23, the 44th Annual Conference of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Transdisziplinären Onkologischen Versorgung (ATO), the association for transdisciplinary oncology care in Baden-Württemberg, took place at the Konzerthaus Freiburg.

ATO focuses on interdisciplinary exchange to continuously improve oncological care. Under this year’s motto “Cancer Moves,” the conference addressed the diverse commonalities and connections between cancer and sports.

We are very pleased to have had the opportunity to support this year’s conference as a sponsor.

September 16 to 18 – ADT Network Conference in Berlin

From September 16 to 18, 2025, we supported the ADT Network Conference in Berlin as an exhibitor. ADT (Association of German Tumor Centers) connects stakeholders in the field of oncology with the goal of identifying research questions relevant to patient care and answering them using the best possible data. It serves as a point of contact regarding quality assurance, data use, and data analysis in oncology.

During the ADT conference, we were able to have many interesting conversations about ONKOSTAR and SURVEYSTAR. The personal exchange with oncology experts provided us with valuable insights.

May 13 and 14 – TMF Health Registry Summit 2025 in Berlin

On May 13 and 14, we attended the Health Registry Summit of TMF – Technology and Methods Platform for Networked Medical Research e.V. in Berlin. The two-day event provided us with exciting insights into the latest developments regarding registry research, interoperability, and data use.

We are very pleased to have gained many valuable insights for our work and would like to thank the organizers for their excellent work.

April 8 to 10 – DMEA 2025 in Berlin

From April 8 to 10, we exhibited at DMEA 2025 in Berlin. Europe’s leading event for Digital Health provides us annually with the opportunity to present our products and solutions to a broad professional audience. We thank all visitors for their keen interest and the engaging conversations at our booth!

March 24 and 25 – “10 Years of ONKOSTAR” user conference in Hannover

On the occasion of ONKOSTAR’s 10th anniversary, our first User Conference took place in Hannover on March 24 and 25, 2025.

Knowledge exchange and perspectives

The two-day event focused on the milestones of the first ONKOSTAR decade, the outlook on the upcoming version ONKOSTAR 3.0, as well as practical experience reports from users at a wide variety of institutions.

In addition to a diverse presentation program, information booths offered participants ample opportunity to exchange ideas with our expert team about our products.

A special highlight was the joint dinner, where we were able to conclude the first day of the event in a relaxed atmosphere.

Comprehensive feedback opportunities

During the event, participants had the opportunity to share suggestions and requests regarding our products on interactive feedback walls.

The event itself was also evaluated afterwards. We are very pleased with the consistently positive feedback. In addition to the presentation program, the lively exchange was particularly praised.

We would like to thank all participants, speakers, and our organizing team for their support. The User Conference impressively demonstrated how valuable dialogue within the ONKOSTAR community is and that there is a strong shared interest in continuously developing our solutions.

We are already looking forward to seeing everyone again at the next User Conference!

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Working together for digital healthcare

Strong synergies

IT-Choice brings many years of expertise in oncology documentation to the group. There are various points of overlap between oncology and radiology – synava’s previous area of focus: both disciplines work hand in hand in many processes, such as diagnostics or tumor board meetings.

Focus on future technologies

Particularly in the fields of artificial intelligence and cloud technologies, there is great potential to jointly advance innovative solutions by combining our expertise.

What does this mean for our customers?

Nothing will change for you: Your trusted contacts at IT-Choice will continue to be available to assist you personally.

All existing contracts and obligations remain unchanged.

Change of legal form

As part of the merger, IT-Choice was converted into a limited liability company (GmbH) on September 22, 2025. Since then, we have been operating under the name IT-Choice Software GmbH.

Please update our company name in your systems – if you have not already done so. Our new commercial register number is: HRB 755805, Mannheim Local Court.

We sincerely thank you for your trust and look forward to continuing our successful and collaborative partnership!

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About synava: “The synava Group is an alliance of leading software companies from various sectors of healthcare IT. Together, we actively shape healthcare in a rapidly changing world and drive digital transformation forward. Our goal is to improve the quality of care, optimize workflows, and achieve the best possible outcomes for patients through innovative IT solutions.”

More information: https://www.synava.com

Uro-oncological longitudinal monitoring with SURVEYSTAR

At St. Antonius Hospital in Gronau, several questionnaires are administered via SURVEYSTAR as part of longitudinal monitoring in uro-oncology. Patients receive personal access to the digital surveys and enter their responses independently. The results are automatically transferred to the ONKOSTAR oncology record and are immediately available there.

This allows for the systematic identification of changes in relevant markers, quality of life, and functional disorders over time, enabling targeted counseling or supportive therapies to be offered. At the same time, the collected data serves to objectively measure the success of therapies.

Oncological Routine Screening with SURVEYSTAR

SURVEYSTAR is also being used at Regensburg University Hospital (UKR). There, the so-called NQS² (Needs-based, Quality-of-life and Symptoms Screening) was further developed and integrated into patient care as digital oncological routine screening (ONCO-ROUTES).

The screening covers areas such as nutrition, functional status, psychosocial stress, and the need for social support. Patients complete the questionnaires independently online. The results are automatically transferred to the patient record in the hospital information system (HIS) and are thus available to the entire treatment team.

In this way, burdens can be identified early, and targeted support services can be arranged. Initial experience at UKR shows that digital collection can be efficiently integrated into existing workflows without disrupting daily clinical operations.

At the same time, the documentation in conjunction with ONKOSTAR meets the requirements for basic psycho-oncological screening as part of DKG certification.

Digital surveys in everyday clinical practice

In practice: SURVEYSTAR makes it easy to integrate patient surveys into existing workflows. By seamlessly incorporating the results into tumor documentation, clinics obtain a reliable data foundation – including for certification purposes. Most importantly, however, the patients´ individual support needs become more visible and can be addressed in a targeted manner.

Source: Maurer, J., Saibold, A., Gerl, K. et al. Systematic development of a patient-reported ONCOlogical-ROUTinE-Screening (ONCO-ROUTES) procedure at the University Cancer Center Regensburg. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 150, 435 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-024-05955-4

Learn more about ONCO-ROUTES screening: https://www.uccr.de/fuer-aerzte/onkologisches-routinescreening-onco-routes

Learn more about SURVEYSTAR: https://www.it-choice.de/produkte/surveystar/

After more than ten years, we are opening a new chapter: our oncological documentation software is entering the next generation, becoming more powerful, more modern, and ready for the demands of the future.

What ONKOSTAR 3 offers

Version 3.0 represents a major technical and functional leap forward:

• Revision of the patient record
• New overviews for state cancer registry (LKR) reporting
• Bulk editing in research
• Direct R-Shiny integration for modern analyses
• Modernized user interface for a more pleasant and intuitive experience
• And much more

ONKOSTAR 3 is thus future-proof and lays the foundation for the next decade of your documentation work.

The path to the new version

ONKOSTAR 3 is currently in the testing phase, which is being gradually expanded to include clinical partners.

An official release is planned for October 2025.

The transition: simple and easy to plan

The transition to ONKOSTAR 3 was deliberately designed to integrate as smoothly as possible into your ongoing operations, without the need for complex data migration. All existing processes and data are retained.

Our conclusion

ONKOSTAR 3 offers everything modern oncological documentation needs: high user-friendliness, more interactivity, and flexibility based on a technically future-proof foundation.

We look forward to taking this next step with you! Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions.

The ONKOSTAR Team

Further information on the new functions of ONKOSTAR 3 can also be found on our website via the following link:

The “7 CONTINENTS” project

The project does not focus on athletic performance but on encounters with people. Bücher is dedicating his run around the world to dialogue with children and young people. He wants to give them a voice, learn what matters to them, and understand what they expect from adults. He wants to inspire people to make a difference. “We can’t change the world, but we can change ourselves and inspire others to do the same,” he says in one of his videos.

Bücher is running approximately 20,000 kilometers in several stages through 70 countries on seven continents. Along the way, he uses encounters to engage in conversation with young people. Additionally, numerous lectures and workshops are planned. The microphone Bücher carries not only records the concerns of children and young people but also serves as a symbol for giving weight to the collected voices and carrying them out into the world.

Seven questions that connect

Stages so far

After a kick-off leg across Germany, Bücher started his Europe leg in Berlin in May 2019 and ran almost 2,300 kilometers to Istanbul in 54 days. From February 8, 2020, to March 3, 2020, he completed the Asian leg, covering 1,000 km from Thimphu (Bhutan) to Kathmandu (Nepal).

Current Leg through East Africa

On July 17, 2025, the Africa leg started in Rwanda. From there, Bücher ran through Uganda to Kenya. In total, he covered approximately 1,200 kilometers and several thousand meters of altitude. At the beginning of his tour, he was accompanied by a “local guide” and a cameraman, as a documentary film about this leg is to be made, capturing the encounters and impressions. Two weeks later, Bücher traveled alone. The continued journey without a team quickly became challenging, as all situations now had to be managed alone. In his encounters and conversations with the local people, Bücher experiences much openness, warmth, and above all, joy of life.

Sponsorship partnership

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Further information about the project can be found at the following link:

Project 7 CONTINENTS

Image source: 7 CONTINENTS, Norman Bücher