— Ways out of the digital disaster — For healthcare professionals and informed patients Modern information technologies can and should contribute to improving the quality and transparency of medical care and making healthcare more economical – and all for the benefit and well-being of patients. Well, that would be the noble approach. All the talk about health insurance cards, telematics infrastructure and electronic patient files stirs up emotions. Peter Schaar, long-standing Federal Data Protection Commissioner, brings light to the dark data and health thicket. Why are innovations in the healthcare sector met with great scepticism by many stakeholders? How can we speed up the development and implementation of meaningful ITsupported solutions? What role does the narrow, small-scale regulatory framework play – not only, but also in data protection?