Our contribution to fighting the pandemic
We provide essential and life-sustaining products, services, and therapies in more than 100 countries. Our purpose drives us as a company: Ever better medicine for ever more people!
Providing people with the best possible care
COVID-19 challenge
We take responsibility for the well-being of millions of patients
From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was clear that as a healthcare group we have a special responsibility in this global crisis. Our task is to be a reliable partner in the healthcare sector and to ensure the safety and quality of our products, services, and therapies. Thereby we contribute to the proper maintaining of healthcare and the functioning of healthcare systems.
Providing people with the best possible care every day and with the greatest commitment! That is what drives us.
How many patients were vaccinated against COVID-19 at Fresenius in 2021?
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~250,000
Sorry – incorrect
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~750,000
Sorry – incorrect
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1,000,000
Correct:
More than 1,000,000 patients were vaccinated against COVID-19 at Fresenius in 2021!
We are combating the coronavirus in many ways
People are at the center of our work – especially during the pandemic
The pandemic challenges us in all areas. In 2021 alone, we treated more than 41,000 infected patients in our hospitals. The work in the COVID-19 wards also means high psychological stress for our nursing staff and physicians. In addition to the increased treatment workload, there is also a high level of emotional care and support required for patients and relatives. Also, working in a COVID-19 intensive care unit also involves tremendous physical stress.
To contribute to transparency and a numbers-based assessment of the COVID-19 situation in our hospitals in Germany, we have been publishing information on the current utilization and occupancy of COVID-19 patients in our hospitals since October 2020.
Helios Spain uses a social media channel to provide information and videos about COVID-19 and to answer urgent questions. Topics include hygiene, vaccinations, or the availability of COVID-19 testing facilities.
Fresenius Helios also supports the COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in Germany and Spain with a variety of vaccination possibilities for both employees and patients.
For people in self-quarantine, our digital health platform Curalie in Germany offers a digital "quarantine program." In addition, the use of the online symptom check is free of charge for everyone. Especially during the pandemic, every user can thus quickly obtain clarity about possible symptoms of other diseases without having to visit a doctor.
We are also making very significant contributions in other areas during the pandemic:
For example, in dialysis. Whether it is protective concepts for on-site treatment or the smooth running of home dialysis, we ensure that kidney patients continue to receive their life-sustaining dialysis.
The pandemic led to a spike in demand for anesthetics for the artificially ventilated, among other reasons. We were fast and flexible, increasing production where necessary and feasible.
We were also able to maintain the production and distribution of other medicines, some of which are essential to life. At the same time, we kept prices stable.
In transition
COVID-19 accelerates trend toward digital and cross-sector health care
Fresenius sees many opportunities in the digitalization of medicine and in cross-sector health care. COVID-19 acts as a catalyst here. Contactless doctor's office visits and aftercare medical treatment are in greater demand due to the pandemic. Current infection risks pose high hurdles, especially for the chronically ill, when it comes to treatment and support. Especially for these patients, digital offerings can be an appropriate alternative.
For Fresenius as a health care group, digital health care solutions are a key growth area and part of our strategy for the coming years. Digitalization offers great potential for providing our patients with even better care, and more efficiently than ever before.
Whether cardiological diseases and health risks, diabetes, kidney failure, high blood pressure, obesity, or orthopedics: In many fields, Fresenius offers fully digitalized solutions for the treatment of chronically ill patients.
The goal here is to be able to digitally accompany the entire treatment path – regardless of whether the patient is staying in the hospital or being treated in an outpatient clinic.
In this way, we are creating better patient involvement in their preventive care and therapies. In addition, numerous applications help healthcare professionals to achieve better treatment results even more efficiently and safely.
- Connecting healthcare facilities
- Diagnosis of diseases
- Digital medical records
- Telemedicine
How many video consultations did Fresenius perform in 2021?
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~1,000
Sorry – incorrect
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~5,000
Sorry – incorrect
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~9,000
Correct:
Fresenius performed more than 9,000 video consultations in 2021!
Digitalization in healthcare offers opportunities
During the pandemic, many planned treatments were postponed in hospitals to secure necessary intensive care capacity. The pandemic has accelerated alternative treatment options for outpatients.
To drive digitalization comprehensively, we are focusing on further expanding the IT infrastructure in hospitals and the online patient portal that accompanies our patients before, during and after their hospital stay. We have developed health apps such as Curalie, which not only supports patients but also helps people to remain healthy. Curalie started as a platform and app for digital health programs based on scientific standards, e.g., for people with chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus or heart failure. With Curalie, these patients can manage their disease digitally and receive important information and tips for a healthier life.
Since the fall of 2021, Curalie also offers extensive features for people with minor acute conditions (such as the digital symptom checker) and has recently expanded its offering to include programs for healthy people (e.g., daily exercise) as well as general information on vaccinations. A personal risk score will provide users with information on how they can make their everyday lives healthier.
Currently, there is a rather strict and less permeable separation between the outpatient and inpatient sectors in the German healthcare system. Our goal is to make a significant contribution to cross-sectoral care and to grow into a leading provider of outpatient medicine that digitally accompanies people into the right care setting but also outside of care in everyday life.
Our claim and our strength are the cross-sector integration of out- and inpatient care in all medical specialties. And at the same time supporting people in their everyday lives to stay healthy.
High medical quality that is affordable – this is, and remains, the basis of our company's success!
photo credits: © Hocoma
Contact
Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA
Investor Relations & Sustainability
+49 (0) 6172 608-2485
ir-fre@fresenius.com
