Research centers of the Helmholtz Association support public health departments in the implementation of SORMAS

Time is the most valuable resource for public health departments these days. In order to interrupt infection chains at an early stage, contact person management is an essential building block. The digital tool SORMAS helps health departments save valuable time. SORMAS is a leading digital system for integrated epidemic control, which has been further developed through funding from the German Federal Ministry of Health (BMG). Due to the great demand for the implementation of the digital tool in health offices, all research centers of the Helmholtz Association support the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and the Academy of Public Health in their support services.

SORMAS (short for "Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System") was developed by the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and, according to an analysis by Johns Hopkins University, is one of the most internationally successful digital systems for case and contact person management in COVID-19. A module developed specifically for public health departments in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic also ensures simpler and more efficient work processes for case and contact person management in Germany.

"The seamless identification and interruption of infection chains is central to the management of the pandemic. This is where SORMAS makes a significant contribution in Germany, Switzerland, France and other countries around the world," says Prof. Dr. Otmar D. Wiestler, President of the Helmholtz Association.

Increased need for training and support covered

SORMAS has now been installed in more than 250 of a total of 375 public health departments - equivalent to around two-thirds of the total. "To ensure a quick and smooth start, we are working with the HZI to offer a wide range of different training and exchange formats, as well as web seminars and a hotline," says Dr. Ute Teichert, head of the Academy for Public Health.

The Helmholtz Association is also pooling its expertise to provide optimal support to public health departments in this regard: Around 30 employees from the 18 Helmholtz research centers are now strengthening the SORMAS team for training and as support.

New update SORMAS X for more connectivity in preparation

For the SORMAS developers, it was crucial that digitization in the middle of a pandemic did not create additional bureaucracy and extra work. On the contrary, multiple bookkeeping and data maintenance should be avoided. That is why the focus of the new version SORMAS eXchange (Sormas X for short) is on interfaces and interoperability. The team of the SORMAS@DEMIS consortium has been putting this update through its paces since the beginning of December with five health offices in pilot operation.

The health departments now have access to SORMAS X, a networked version that offers the following new functions, among others:

• Synchronous connection of the digital symptom diary (Climedo), so that symptom information of the contact persons appears directly in SORMAS
• Direct reception of digital laboratory reports from the German Electronic Reporting and Information System for Infection Prevention (DEMIS)
• Digital, media-break-free transfer of data requiring transmission to the local SurvNet instance for digital transmission to the state authority
• Digital and privacy-compliant exchange of personal data directly between health departments
• "These enhancements make contact management much more efficient. Phone calls, correspondence and the transfer of data are eliminated in many cases," explains Teichert.

SORMAS is open source

SORMAS is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) with an amount in the double-digit millions as part of the SORMAS@DEMIS research project and is made available to health authorities free of charge.
Prof. Dr. Gérard Krause, HZI, Scientific Director of the SORMAS@DEMIS consortium, points out further advantages: "No license fees have to be paid for SORMAS because it is open source. This makes it easier to integrate complementary systems." In addition, the operation runs in the infrastructures of the ITZBund and thus also relieves the health offices considerably, since the health office staff does not have to take care of installation, system maintenance or data backup.

SORMAS

Further information about SORMAS in Germany can be found at https://www.sormas-oegd.de/, about SORMAS internationally at https://sormas.org. helmholtz-hzi.de/.

SORMAS@DEMIS
SORMAS is also supported in the SORMAS@DEMIS project by strong consortium partners, such as the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the Academy for Public Health, Netzlink Informationstechnik GmbH, Vitagroup AG, Climedo Health GmbH, Fraunhofer Focus, gematik GmbH and the Federal Information Technology Center (ITZBund). www.sormas-demis.de

Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research GmbH

Scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) study bacterial and viral infections and the body's defense mechanisms in Braunschweig and at other locations in Germany. They have in-depth expertise in natural products research and their use as a valuable source for novel anti-infectives. As a member of the German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), the HZI conducts translational research for the development of new therapies, diagnostics, vaccines and digital health products and coordinates there, among other things, the Translational Infrastructure "Epidemiology" together with the RKI. www.helmholtz-hzi.de

Helmholtz Association

Helmholtz contributes to solving major and pressing issues facing society, science and industry through scientific excellence in six research fields: Energy, Earth and Environment, Health, Information, Matter, and Aeronautics, Space and Transport. Helmholtz is Germany's largest scientific organization, with more than 43,000 employees in 18 research centers and an annual budget of about 5 billion euros. Its work is in the tradition of the great natural scientist Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894). www.helmholtz.de

Academy for Public Health
The Academy of Public Health, headquartered in Düsseldorf, is a public-law educational institution funded by ten German states. In addition to courses such as public health specialist, hygiene inspector or food inspector, the academy offers continuing education courses that address individual professions in the public health service as well as multiprofessional and topic- or problem-centered courses. More than 5,000 employees of the public health service participate in the approximately 200 events per year. More information on the Internet at www.akademie-oegw.de