Innovations in Primary Diagnostics: Why Progress in Practice Is Too Slow

By Dr. med. univ. Cornelia Flasch-Polly

The critical decisions for patients are made in private specialist practices—yet technological evolution is reaching this setting far too slowly. While university hospitals discuss high-end AI, outpatient care often remains mired in outdated structures. As both a physician and an entrepreneur, I view it as my mission to actively drive these innovations forward and bring diagnostic depth directly to the point of care—specifically, primary diagnostics.

Precision Instead of Wasted Time

We can no longer afford to waste patients' time through rigid divisions between initial examinations and more in-depth diagnostics. I focus on implementing Clinical Decision Support (CDS) tools that directly accelerate clinical action:

• Modern Breast Cancer Screening: Through AI-driven biomarker analysis, we enhance safety right from the very first patient contact. The goal is precise triage—rather than merely "passing the patient along" within the system.

• Pharmacogenetics (PGx) as a Basis for Decision-Making: Genetic data is only truly valuable when it reaches the prescription pad. I integrate PGx tools into the clinical workflow in such a way that physicians receive not mountains of data, but a clear answer: Which medication is effective for this specific patient while minimizing side effects? This marks the end of "trial and error."

Implementation as an Entrepreneurial Mission

Innovation typically fails at the stage of implementation, not due to technology. In the stressful reality of their daily work, physicians do not need additional data; rather, they require decision-relevant information—in real time.

My approach is to bridge the gap between high technology and the treatment room. We can no longer afford to wait for the wheels of bureaucracy to turn. I am driving forward the networking of medical disciplines to ensure that innovations reach the very place where they have the greatest impact: directly at the point of clinical decision-making, thereby safeguarding evidence-based medicine across the entire healthcare landscape.