The journal builds on the first joint publication from last year and illustrates how the Medical Informatics Initiative continues to develop its nationwide research data infrastructure. The focus is on the guiding theme “MII meets AI”: the issue demonstrates how interoperable data structures, data integration centers, and the Health Research Data Portal for Germany create the foundation for making health data securely and cross-site available for research, healthcare, and artificial intelligence applications.
The journal highlights key topics of the MII: interoperability and standardization, governance and data sharing, the use of routine healthcare data for precision medicine and health services research, as well as the further development of data integration centers as important service and networking structures. It also includes contributions on patient safety, digitally supported care pathways, oncological and cardiological use cases, patient-reported outcomes, as well as perspectives on early-career researcher support, international collaboration, and the EHDS.
The contributions illustrate how shared infrastructure and consortium-based collaboration generate concrete added value for science and healthcare. At the same time, the issue shows that the MII continues to expand its role as a bridge between clinical care, research, and digital innovation.