At the beginning of the 2016 vacation season, the cruise line AIDA Cruises and the Rostock University Medical Center are entering a groundbreaking partnership. The partnership will comprise work together in the area of telemedicine as an important element of primary medical care on board.

The goal is to bring special knowledge from the university to each ship in the AIDA fleet on long term, starting with radiology. The eleven AIDA ships operate all over the world. Via a satellite connection, the ships’ doctors are in contact with radiologists at the university medical center, regardless of where the ship is located. They can send x-rays over long distances, hold telephone conferences, and exchange regarding diagnoses – twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

The ship hospitals are excellently equipped and allow medical staff to perform imaging examination methods, such as ultrasounds and x-rays. The results are sent to specialists at the Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology in Rostock who provide expertise for further examination and analysis of the findings. 

This teleradiology project is unique in Germany. “The Rostock University Medical Center has great expertise in telemedical applications, which we will utilize from now on for the benefit of our guests and crew members,” says Dr. Jens Tülsner, Vice President Medical at AIDA Cruises.

Prof. Dr. Christian Schmidt, medical director at the university medical center, considers this a groundbreaking step. “This partnership creates a new link between tourism and medicine, and thereby represents another milestone in health management in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.”

“We’re going to be connected to the whole world,” says Prof. Dr. Karlheinz Hauenstein, director of the Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, whose team will be working together with the ship doctors.