How can clinical data be used securely and meaningfully for research? How can data-sharing processes and interoperable structures be improved? And what opportunities do AI-powered applications offer for medical research? The Institute of Medical Informatics (IMI) of the University of Münster addressed these and other key questions at the 71st Annual Meeting of the German Society for Medical Informatics, Biometry, and Epidemiology (GMDS 2026).

The annual meeting took place from September 27 to October 1, 2026, in Freiburg. The IMI participated with one presentation and five posters, showcasing current research from various fields of medical informatics.

Focus on Broad Consent

A key highlight was the presentation by Dr. Tobias Brix entitled 'Evaluation of the Broad Consent Distribution at a University Hospital: Is it Representative or Biased?'. The study, conducted in collaboration with researchers from the IMI and other partners, examined the representativeness of the oncological patient group that had consented to the use of their health data for research purposes under the so-called Broad Consent (BC). This group was compared with the entire oncological patient population at the University Hospital Münster. The results show significant differences, particularly regarding clinical characteristics, indicating a potential selection bias.

Current Research: Five Poster Presentations

Further research findings from the IMI were presented in five poster sessions. The topics ranged from the further development of Broad Consent and data-sharing processes to FHIR-based applications and AI-powered medical image analysis:

• BC-Minors: An Automated Workflow for Re-Contacting Former Minor Patients Under Broad Consent Once They Reach The Age Of Majority
  D. Schröder, S. D. Mirraziroudsari, T. Brix, S. Prus, M. Storck, D. Heider
• Less Knowledge Without Exchange: Experiences in Developing a Data Sharing Framework Process Plugin for EyeMatics – Lessons Learned
  S. Prus, S. D. Mirraziroudsari, D. Schröder, J. Oehm, L. Dickhoff, T. Rüland, F. Zanier, S. Berthe, S. R. Mazlooman, L. Paulet, C. Hampf, E. Kobak, H. Felderhoff, D. Heines, M. Lipprandt, A. Stahl, D. Waltemath, D. Merle, O. Kohlbacher, P. Berens, M. Ueffing, F. Ziemssen, T. Wendt, V. Kakkassery, F. Nüßler, A. Schuster, K. Hoffmann, E. Nicole, T. Brix
• Caring for Sharing: Development of an Out-of-the-Box Project Generator for the Data Sharing Framework
  S. Prus, Y. Warnecke, T. Brix, M. Storck, D. Heider 
• Navigating Technical Challenges in FHIR-Based Patient Reported Outcome Measures: Towards Interoperability with the MII PRO Core Dataset
  Y. Warnecke, D. Heider, M. Storck
• RetiGrade: A Client-Side, AI-Assisted Annotation Platform for Retinal Fundus Images with FHIR Questionnaire Integration and Explainable Image Classification
  K. Yildirim, D. Heider, J. Storp, L.-L. Eisfeld, N. Eter, M. Storck, T. Brix

The GMDS annual meeting thus provided a platform to present the IMI's current work and to engage in discussions with professional colleagues from medical informatics, biometry, and epidemiology regarding shared challenges and innovative approaches.