[Health authorities in crisis management: lessons learned from the coronavirus pandemic]

This article reports on a small study on crisis management by health authorities in Germany during the coronavirus pandemic. One aim of the study was to analyse the challenges, successes and role of digital innovations in the context of the pandemic. To this end, eight guided interviews were conducted with nine managers and employees from various health authorities. At the beginning of the pandemic, the lack of digitalisation (fax-based reporting processes) and scarce human resources were the main challenges. Flexibility and pragmatic action on the part of managers, as well as good teamwork, proved to be essential factors for efficiency and resilience. Digital tools, often even applications developed in-house, also contributed significantly to contact tracing and more efficient reporting. For future crises, respondents called for a legal framework that would enable health authorities to be more agile in their work, as well as faster digitalisation with interoperable interfaces and uniform standards. In addition, they recommended structured knowledge management, a modular toolbox for crisis plans and the expansion of intersectoral and supraregional networking structures.