Every day, people search for an answer to their health complaints - from the onset of the first symptoms to contact with a medical professional. Through diagnosis and treatment to check-ups and follow-up treatments, they follow an individual and rarely linear path through the healthcare system. This path, also known as the "patient journey", will change in the course of the digitization of medical care. In addition, it can be assumed that the relationship between doctor and patient will change with the use of digital services; patients will increasingly change from being "passive recipients of services" to "active pioneers". 

In qualitative interviews, digital services relevant to and used by those affected were first identified before the broad use of these services is now examined in a more differentiated manner in a quantitative evaluation. Across Germany, 190 dermatologists and 1,000 patients were included in the study. The aim is to show what role digital services play in the use of medical services and whether they help or hinder specialist care in Germany. 

The results are to serve as a basis for future (political) decisions regarding the expansion or targeted orientation of digital offerings in order to enable resource-optimized, nationwide medical care. In addition, the study will examine the doctor-patient relationship in the digital context and identify any possible negative changes in order to counter such a development.