Our customer:
Frankfurt am Main Health Department
Health departments carry out most of the tasks in the service of public health. Although the tasks themselves are similar in all health departments, there was no uniform software solution. The processes formed a large patchwork of various analogue and digital solutions that could not communicate with each other.
The Agreement for Public Health Services agreed upon by the federal government opened new possibilities. With funding from the Hessian Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Sports, Health and Care, the Frankfurt am Main Health Department was able to put its vision for the digital health department into practice. 23 million euros from the ÖGD Agreement, which is funded by the EU funding programme "Digitisation of Public Health Services" and EU funds (NextGenerationEU), would be used to finance the "GA-Lotse" project.
cronn won the Europe-wide tender for the development of uniform software for the Hessian health authorities. With over 300 employees working in seven departments, the Frankfurt am Main Health Department is one of the largest in Germany.
Corporation:
GA-Lotse is a cooperation of the Hessian Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Sport, Health and Care in cooperation with the Frankfurt am Main Health Department.
The starting point
Various software solutions were used in the Hessian health department. Most of these solutions were client-based, meaning each application had to be first installed on the respective PC in order be used. The problem with these applications was that they did not have the modern interfaces necessary in facilitating data exchange.
The many different applications were not compatible with each other and difficult to customise. These isolated solutions were partly digital and partly hybrid – forms, for example, often still had to be transferred manually by the employees in the offices.
In some areas, the software also generated high licensing costs. For example, one of the solutions ran on MS Access and had been developed by one person over 30 years. While this solution was individual, it could no longer be maintained. Existing applications were often based on old technologies and so it was becoming increasingly difficult to update them to meet modern data security standards.
Due to this patchwork of different software solutions, it was not possible to keep track of all ongoing processes. This became particularly noticeable during the Covid pandemic: an overview of the current number of cases in Hessen could only be obtained by placing telephone calls to individual health departments.
Overall, the high number of solutions did not allow for a modern way of working and placed an unnecessary additional workload on the employees, hence the need for a new solution.
The idea behind it: to simplify the work of all Hessian health departments with the use of uniform open-source-based software which could at the same time facilitate the department's cooperation with citizens. cronn launched this mission in October 2023.
The project
ServicesConsulting, analysis, development, UI/UX design, test automation, maintenance and further development, last-level support
MethodsAgile Project Management, Scrum, Nexus, CI/CD, DevOps, Clean Code, Accessibility, Zero Trust, Microservices
TechnologiesJava, Spring Boot, Gradle, TypeScript, React, Playwright, Docker, Kubernetes, k6, Keycloak, Hibernate, PostgreSQL
We are doing GA-Lotse together with you for all those who want to work in a modern health department. Our work will meet the requirements of a modern and effective public health system even better than before. By doing this we are also making an important contribution to digital sovereignty.
— PD Dr. Peter Tinnemann, Head of the Frankfurt am Main Health Department
The solution
It was all hands on deck in October 2023: The first cronners took part in symposia in Frankfurt and worked closely with the Frankfurt am Main Health Department to define the exact requirements of the software.
The project grew rapidly over the first few months: while in November only five teams were working on the project, in January there were already 11 teams from areas of business analysis, UI/UX design, testing and software development.
Within a brief period the cronn team had set up a software architecture, and shortly thereafter there were already the first software components that could be actively used for demonstration purposes within the health department.
The software infrastructure is based on module blocks: there is a uniform basic module in combination with various specialist modules. Due to this modular structure of the software, new modules can be expanded or adapted whenever needs arise.
The system architecture of the health department's new software
In October 2024, the first version of the software was delivered under the name GA-Lotse (Gesundheitsamt-Lotse) to four different departments with four corresponding modules: school admission check-up, inspection, travel medical vaccination advice and measles protection. Gradually, other Hessian health departments will follow.
The specialist departments can use the modules to carry out their activities. Users can, amongst other tasks, initiate processes (such as compiling case histories), assign appointment blocks, access a calendar and a change history, manage contacts and, in future versions, chat.
In contrast to the previous patchwork of solutions, the new application is purely web-based and can be used via any device in the browser.
The dashboard view in GA-Lotse
In addition to the various modules for the specialist departments of the Hessian health departments, there is also a citizens' platform within the basic module. The platform allows citizens to access a range of online services, including a vaccination consultation, which suggests suitable vaccinations after entering the planned destination and date of travel. Appointments can then be booked and are seamlessly transferred to the relevant system.
cronn advantages
Zero TrustConsistent use of the Zero Trust approach
End-to-end digitizationComprehensively digitised process starting with the health department and ending with the citizens' portal
Scalable applicationDynamically adapt to user needs – stable performance even under a high load
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Thanks to cronn and our good cooperation, we now have a modern solution that makes everyday work easier for all employees of the health departments!
— Stefanie Kaulich, Head of Digitalization, IT and Strategic Planning, Frankfurt Health Department
Client's advantages
Thanks to the software, the processes within the Hessian health authorities are end-to-end digitized - employees can do their work digitally and the Hessian population also benefits from the integration of the citizens' platform. In addition, the detailed requirements survey included not only the interests of the health department in Frankfurt, but also those of other Hessian health departments. This makes it possible for the software to meet requirements of potential future users.
The use of modern technologies such as the Zero Trust model ensures IT security. In this way, the authorizations are continuously checked, and it is ensured that only verified users have access to the software. Each health department also has its own identity access management for users within their office, and roles can be managed and arbitrary rights distributed at the state level. The advantage of this is that the granular control of access rights means that only authorized persons have access to sensitive data. This increases security and ensures data protection. In the future, this will enable a state-wide overview of the processes of all Hessian health authorities and thus facilitate the collection of statistics.
In just a few months, cronn provided the health department with a large team: currently, 60 developers in 11 teams are working on the GA pilot. This made it possible to rapidly develop a working demonstration and for a first software version to go live after just one year.
The new solution is adaptable, technically maintenance-friendly and future-proof: even after going live, cronn will continue to work on the software together with the health department and will add further modules for other specialist departments in the future.
I really appreciate the professional cooperation with cronn! Together we were able to implement the project quickly and according to our wishes. The result: an open-source application with networked modules and the highest possible data security.
— Bianca Kastl, Technical Director and Product Owner GA-Lotse
