Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, University Clinic Düsseldorf

The Policlinic of Rheumatology & Hiller Research Unit at the Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf (UDUS) conducts routine patient care and research with focus on inflammatory rheumatic diseases. In PICASO, UDUS carries out and evaluates the German clinical trial, involving patients with rheumatoid arthritis and related comorbidities. The clinic cares for approximately 2500 in- and outpatients with musculoskeletal and rheumatic diseases per year. Besides highly specialized expertise in treatment of rheumatic and immunologic diseases, exceptional competencies exist on the subject co-morbidities and their prevention, based on established non-interventional cohorts and cross-sectional studies. The clinic has a longstanding tradition of offering information technology expertise. It was one of the six leading competence centres of the “Competence Network Rheumatic Diseases” funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Science. Leadership and collaborations in various health services related projects that focus on optimization of patient care using information technology were conducted with a broad medical informatics knowhow.