Our Bucher Käpsele
We continue to grow: Our new trainees
QuickTEST in use
QuickLIS - Order Entry for Cytology
E-Fax: Safely informed
BS Customer Days 2022
There are few events we look forward to as much as this one. So last week it was finally time again for our BS Customer Days: Two days filled with valuable insights, practical tips and tricks around our software solution QuickCON and in between a lot of time for interesting conversations and valuable exchange. All this was only topped by record-breaking numbers of participants, which we were very pleased about. So it was more than worth the wait.
This year, our event was divided into different blocks. We had asked our customers in advance for their wishes in order to be able to present and convey all contents as customer-oriented as possible. At the end of the first training day, a joint dinner followed by a social get-together provided a pleasant diversion before the second day continued with a joint brainstorming session. Last but not least, a short outlook on future projects and plans was not to be missed. And so two intensive customer days flew by again and actually ended much too quickly, so that we are already looking forward to next year.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all participants for the confidence they have placed in us. It was nice that you were with us. We hope to welcome you again next year and if you already have ideas and wishes for the BS Customer Days 2023, please let us know.
Our vision
Every person has something that motivates and drives him or her. The same is true for companies - or at least it should be, in our opinion. A good basis for this is a mission statement: a description for the company's self-image, basic principles and goals. A kind of compass for the future that provides answers to the questions of what we stand for, what we want to achieve, and how.
We have been living a common spirit as a team for a long time, even without ever having agreed on it verbally. But a mission statement goes even further: it provides employees with a framework and orientation for their work and shows customers and partners the values and demands of our company - in short, what makes us tick. We have grown and developed rapidly in recent years, so it was time to put our principles and values in writing. However, the development of a mission statement is not done on the drawing board by a single person - it is teamwork.
So last year, in a cross-departmental team of eight employees, we set out to formulate our corporate mission statement. After an initial meeting, we retreated for two intensive days to the beautiful Allgäu region of Germany, where, far from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we found the creativity and inspiration we needed to achieve the first major milestone: the development of a clearly formulated corporate vision. A vision as a picture of the future and a set of goals should motivate and inspire one's own employees and in this way can strongly influence the success of the company. In the process, we worked our way from the individual ideas of each team member to a shared vision. An exciting process in which we were once again confirmed how much we all pull together to achieve a goal.
Our vision
We are a Swabian, internationally operating software company with the goal of optimizing processes in the healthcare sector in order to preserve and improve one of the most precious goods of mankind - health. In doing so, we remain authentic and make our decisions believing in ourselves and based on our ideals and values.
While this blog is going online, our team is already busy taking the next step. However, more will not be revealed at this point...
Guad gloffa
On Sunday, the whole of Ulm was once again under the sign of the annual Einstein Marathon. The Bucher Group was also represented by a team of 17 highly motivated runners. They started in different distances. The 5 and 10 km distances and in one case the half marathon had to be mastered. Loud support was given by the colleagues at the side of the course, our developer Lukas was even represented with his brass band. So it's no wonder that our runners put in a lot of effort and mastered their courses with flying colors.
We are definitely super proud of you guys!
Bread, games and a murder
It should be no secret by now that we are a pretty playful bunch. So it's only logical that this year's teambuilding would hold one or two challenges in store for us. And this time we didn't even have to travel far.
But from the beginning: It all started very comfortably with an opulent brunch in our cafeteria, where there was such a large selection of delicacies that sporting activities were initially pushed far into the background. But only for the time being, because around noon we went well fortified to the other side of the Danube. At the Face-off in Neu-Ulm, a parkour of 13 games awaited us, in which we had to compete against each other in different teams. There was something for everyone in the different disciplines, so depending on the task, skill, strength or knowledge were required. Whether bullriding, knowledge games or reaction wall - everyone got the opportunity to play to their own strengths and thus fully contribute to the team. And even from the scavenger pit everyone came out sooner or later, but that's another story...
After we had mastered all the stations with flying colors, we had well deserved a reward. We went back to Ulm to the traditional Krone restaurant. Because - surprise - as we all know, eating is also one of our favorite pastimes. In the rustic cellar vault there was another highlight for us: Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson took us on a murder hunt in the finest Swabian dialect, which kept us in suspense from the appetizer to the last nightcap. The culprit (no, it was not the gardener) was unmasked at the end with our help.
And so this year's teambuilding event not only provided us with a wonderful and exciting Saturday, but we have also learned something new since then. Or let's say, we are at least pretty sure that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle must have been secretly Swabian. As is well known, only clever minds come from Swabia...
A big thank you to all involved, especially to the organization team and the management. You have once again provided for numerous beautiful memories!
Reliable transmission of findings in cytology
The digital transmission of findings often does not yet run smoothly in cytology; the reason for this is often an unreliable EDI system. The laboratories then lose a lot of time resending lost findings to their sending practices. In addition, many software systems only work on Windows PCs and not on macOS.
QuickLIS solves these problems and transfers cytology findings in real time as encrypted LDT files from the laboratory system to the doctors' offices. The practice staff can then manage the findings clearly and download them again if necessary. All files are stored on the server in the laboratory and can no longer be lost! Through the connection to the physician information system of the sender, the findings data are also stored directly here. If questions arise, they can be quickly clarified via chat - saving a lot of time. QuickLIS report transmission can be easily connected to the existing laboratory system without having to completely change your software environment.
With QuickLIS, security comes first: encrypted LDT files meet the highest security standards - comparable to a letter with a seal and certificate. This is far more than an encrypted e-mail or even an FTP client, which in this metaphor would be comparable to a postcard.
Are you interested in a reliable solution for the transmission of your findings? Then try out QuickLIS digital report transmission easily and without obligation! During a trial period of 6 months, you can test our solution with up to ten of your sending practices free of charge and without obligation. There are no costs for you during this time - even if you decide against our solution afterwards. If you are convinced by QuickLIS, you will only pay after the trial period.
You want details? You can find more information on QuickLIS report transmission here. We would also be happy to present our solution to you in a personal meeting. Just contact us. We are looking forward to meeting you.
Done!
One office management assistant, two application developers, three system integrators and two university graduates - this year's graduating class brought us no less than eight freshly graduated specialists, and we wouldn't want to give any of them up again.
Our trainees Esra, Philipp H., Simon, Philipp S., Jan and Ronald have been enriching our team since 2019 and 2020. All trainees have been right in the thick of things right from the start, so they were able to take on responsibility early on and put their knowledge to the test in their first projects of their own. The same applies to Florian and Johannes, who successfully completed their studies in computer science and data science in medicine this year. Both came to us as internship students and wrote their bachelor theses here.
With their concentrated expertise, the now fully trained employees enrich our team. In addition, they are, above all, valuable colleagues whom we would not want to miss in our team. We are all the more pleased that each and every one of them will stay with us to continue actively shaping the future of our company.
At this point, congratulations to all graduates. After the long time of preparation, cramming and writing, you can be justifiably proud of yourselves. We certainly are.
We are also keeping our fingers crossed for our two dual students Kai and Caspar, who are currently in the final stages of their bachelor thesis.
By the way: We are looking for new talent again. So if you are interested in IT in the medical industry and one or the other adventure with our team: there are still training positions available for this year.
Programming blind? We see no problem there
At first glance, Martin's workplace doesn't look very different from those of other colleagues. A desk, an office chair, a laptop - that's about it. But a closer look reveals that there are no additional screens or a mouse. And if you watch Martin at work for a while, it quickly becomes clear that he works differently than the other colleagues. Because Martin is blind.
When the sighted colleagues program applications, they use an integrated development environment. They constantly switch back and forth between several open windows on their screens, compare or click buttons to compile. For Martin, this very visual way of working doesn't work. His headphones are his screen. For this, he uses so-called screen reader programs that recognize text within images and read the information to him. "Basically, my first programming skills were based on rewriting screen reader programs for my purposes. I was forced to customize them to my needs, so that they read aloud only what was interesting to me, for example." Martin, on the other hand, does not usually use a Braille display, an output device that translates digitized text into Braille and functions like a tactile keyboard. This is partly because he was not born blind and only had to painstakingly learn Braille as an adult. When Martin develops, he moves around on the command line and writes scripts that are composed of individual command line commands. But this requires a certain mental model, because he simply has to know certain contexts. Thus it needs at the beginning possibly somewhat longer, in order to learn the code. Once the code is internalized, however, he is often even faster with commands than his sighted colleagues.
Martin has been with us for over two years now as an application developer. He works in the web area and takes care of deployment or automation processes and the containerization of applications, among other things. At that time, the contact was established through a personnel consulting firm specializing in IT professionals. Because of his disability, the job search initially proved to be not so easy for the trained developer. And this despite the fact that he had been programming himself since 1997 and could look back on many years of professional experience even before his training. Even for managing director Jürgen Bucher, the agency's request came as a surprise at first: "A code can consist of complex structures and many programs are graphically structured. Martin, on the other hand, has to have it all read out to him and keep it in his memory. At first, I actually had a hard time imagining that. But we just tried it out!" With success, because Martin has long since joined the team and performs his tasks just like any other developer, but in a different way.
Martin sees himself as a mediator between the worlds and hopes that more companies will dare to employ employees with disabilities: "Often, the hurdles are not as high as many fear. My screen readers, for example, are all open source programs; I don't need any other aids." At many companies, however, he says, internal policies are so strict that often only certain programs may be used and no exceptions are granted. For Martin, it is therefore important to talk much more about accessibility, rather than participation. Companies should ask themselves the question, "How do I make it possible for someone to use their skills?" Martin is a trained professional with the same skills as a sighted application developer, but he is blind.
Picture credits: © Bucher Group
Education, the Second: Donation to the Education Network and the BvSG
We have often emphasized the importance we attach to education. That is why we have also divided up our annual donation: The second donation in this area, amounting to €3,000, goes to the Ulm/Neu-Ulm education network This means that the Ulm Stadtjugendring is followed by another organization that puts its expertise entirely at the service of young people in the region.
The Ulm/Neu-Ulm education network is a cross-city project. Its goal is to link schools and daycare centers with non-school educational institutions in order to facilitate joint projects or long-term partnerships. We had already made a donation to the network during our major fundraising campaign in 2021 and were thrilled with what the team around Monika Schmid had set up with it. With the idea of reaching as many children as possible, a call for proposals was launched in which schools and daycare centers could submit applications for cooperation with external partners. The project was so successful that the education network team decided to repeat it. The application window for the second round of calls for proposals closed just recently. We are excited to see what great new projects will emerge in the coming school year and are happy to contribute to them with our donation.
Furthermore, the long-standing cooperation with the Bertha-von-Suttner-Gymnasium in Neu-Ulm has entered a new round. Thanks to the donation of € 5,000, many exciting projects can once again be initiated in order to inspire even more students for the MINT subjects.
With fire for the next generation - Donation to Stadtjugendring Ulm
Education makes the difference. It determines participation and a fulfilled life, prospects and development opportunities. It opens doors and is a basic prerequisite for respectful cooperation. We are convinced that the issue of education for children and young people cannot be given enough space. That is why we are dedicating our second annual donation to this cause. When selecting the organization, we took great care to ensure that as many children as possible in our region would benefit from our donation. So who would be a better choice than the Ulm-based umbrella organization of youth associations, youth groups and youth initiatives?
The Stadtjugendring Ulm e.V. represents the interests and needs of all growing Ulm citizens and reflects the diversity of a colorful youth and society in our city. The independent association forms a strong network of currently 61 members with a total of 25,000 children and young people. Whether it's the Boy Scouts, the Green Youth or the Choir Association - the range of clubs and organizations represented here is enormous. The offerings of the Stadtjugendring are just as diverse: from vacation courses to school projects, from media education to music education, everything is included. The offers are extremely popular with the families of Ulm and are booked up accordingly quickly. To ensure that as many children as possible can benefit from them, a strong team of volunteers or part-time employees is needed, who put their heart and soul into their work and put together great projects.
We are very pleased that we can make a contribution with our donation of € 6,000 to support and honor this valuable work of the Stadtjugendring. Among other things, the money will go to the Reithalle Ulm, one of the first indoor skating facilities in southern Germany, where the young skaters of Ulm can really let off steam. So that the children and young people can be offered something here, new ramps or floors are needed regularly, so that our donation is more than in the right place here. The riding hall is one of many locations managed by the Stadtjugendring. In total, these are more than 8,500 m² of premises that are made available for youth work. It's a task that hasn't been made any easier by the energy crisis. "The donation came at exactly the right time," emphasizes the association's managing director, Achim Spannagel. "Our energy costs have doubled due to the energy crisis." So there are plenty of reasons to support the great commitment of the Stadtjugendring. Imitation absolutely desired.
Practice website: The basis for successful employee acquisition
Most medical practices cannot complain about too few patients. This may also be the reason for some to do without their own practice website. In view of the already acute shortage of specialists, however, the website still plays an important role that should not be underestimated.
According to statistics, around half of all doctors in Germany are over 50 years old, making the shortage of doctors a bitter reality in many places. In order to recruit new staff, medical practices must therefore nowadays apply to their potential new recruits and not vice versa. The website is therefore a personal letter of application and the first point of contact for professionals in a hotly contested market.
The importance of online presence for staff acquisition was also the subject of a recent article in the Ärztezeitung. According to the article, it must seem strange to young doctors to come across technologies such as fax machines in their everyday practice. If this new generation of "digital natives" then has to decide between a practice with a modern, informative website and a practice that has at most a Jameda entry - which practice will win the race in the end? So anyone who is seriously looking for specialists has a clear advantage with an appealing web presence. And the competition is fierce.
In addition, a well-designed and functional website also means an enormous time saving for the practice team. Whether current topics and services, job postings and documents: both applicants and patients can obtain comprehensive information on a practice website and do not have to call the practice separately. An integrated online appointment booking and prescription request also ensure free telephone lines and more time for the essentials.
We could now list many more advantages why a practice website is always worthwhile. Due to our many years of experience in the healthcare sector, we know the industry and know exactly what is important for a practice website. If you would like to present your practice optimally on the web, we will be happy to support you. Just get in touch with us. You can find more information about our design services here.
Record-breaking: DMEA 2023
Over 16,000 trade visitors and more than 750 exhibitors from almost 30 countries - more than ever before. With a significant increase, DMEA 2023 ended last Thursday - and we were there again.
From April 25 to 27, the entire e-health industry came together in Berlin to jointly address the most important issues surrounding the digitization of healthcare. The spectrum of content was broad: from ePA to green IT to IT security, everything was there.
We also had another lively exchange with other professionals from the industry at our booth and are pleased with the great interest shown in us here. A big thank you for the numerous interesting conversations and the constructive exchange. In Berlin, we were once again able to gather many valuable impulses and suggestions that will certainly accompany us in our daily work for a long time to come.
Disabling QuickTEST and CWA
Three years characterized by social distancing, masks and regular rapid tests have come to an end and probably no one wishes this time of emergency back. As a company, however, we were able to gain many important insights and experiences during this time that were, despite everything, very instructive for us.
At the beginning of 2021, we developed QuickTEST, our software for rapid testing, and installed it at around 400 test centers. Taking into account customers' wishes, our solution has been continuously developed and optimized. We were also involved in the Corona Warn app and, in intensive collaboration with Telekom and the RKI, connected over 400 laboratories to the app.
Both projects are now coming to an end. The Corona Warn app was put to sleep earlier this month. And we also shut down QuickTEST on April 30. This closes an intensive and exciting chapter for us. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved for their cooperation and trust in us and look forward to many new exciting projects.
If you still have questions about QuickTEST shutdown, feel free to contact our support.
German Laboratory Day 2023
Promote sustainability
On the occasion of our fundraising campaign in December, when we decided together as a team to forgo part of our bonus and donate it, we had already announced it: The company itself will donate a larger sum to several regional organizations from different areas over the course of the year in order to reach as many people in the region as possible.
We are dedicating this year's first donation to the area of sustainability. A topic that is part of our corporate culture and on which we continuously work to make a difference here as a company. Since we took great care in selecting organizations that are not only regionally based but also reflect our values, we chose an association that - despite its relatively young history - has already made a great contribution to the topic of sustainability.
The association "Haus der Nachhaltigkeit Ulm, Neu-Ulm und Region e.V." (House of Sustainability Ulm, Neu-Ulm and Region) has set itself the task of preserving the foundations of life for present and future generations by acting responsibly in the areas of society and the environment. The declared aim is to "actively and democratically accompany and shape social, economic, ecological, technological and ethical change in Ulm, Neu-Ulm and the region". The association is an initiative of citizens, NGOs, science and companies who all want to make a local contribution to the implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. In practice, seminars, lectures, workshops and cultural events are held and advice on sustainability is offered. A repair café has already been launched, and in the future the House of Sustainability will open its doors as a meeting place with a café and concept store, seminar and workshop rooms, offices and co-working spaces .
What this citizen-oriented and grassroots commitment has set up in a short time has impressed us greatly. That is why we support the "House of Sustainability" out of deepest conviction with a donation of € 15,000 and are sure that this sum is in the best hands here to contribute to the sustainable shaping of our future.
German Laboratory Day and DMEA - Visit us in Berlin
Spring is just around the corner and with it the trade show season. We will be exhibiting at two events in the coming months to present our laboratory solutions to a wider audience.
It all starts on March 23-24 with the German Lab Day/BDL Annual Conference in Berlin. And because it's so nice in Berlin, we'll be right back there one month later when the DMEA opens its doors once again from April 25 to 27. At Europe's leading trade fair for digital health, you will find us in Hall: 1.2 Stand: C-106 .
If you are planning a visit to the trade fair and would like a personal meeting, then simply contact us. We will also be happy to provide you with DMEA visitor tickets.
We look forward to seeing you in Berlin.
Fundraising campaign 2021: Long-lasting joy
Even one year after our big Advent campaign, we still receive news about exciting, valuable and heartwarming projects that were made possible by our donations. We are incredibly happy that we are able to directly experience these sustainable positive effects.
What the Ulm/Neu-Ulm education network set up last year with the donation really excited us: at the beginning of 2022, Monika Schmid's team had thought about how the money could benefit as many children as possible over as long a period as possible. What followed was a call for cooperation to schools and daycare centers to submit a funding application together with a potential cooperation partner - formally low-threshold and designed for the long term. Of 20 applications, 10 were finally selected for funding. The result was a colorful mix of projects in the fields of nature, sports, art and political education, which were launched last fall.
And because we are curious, we naturally took the opportunity to take a look at one of these projects at the end of the year: The cooperation between the Hans-Multscher-Grundschule and the Junge Ulmer Bühne (JUB) under the title "Vielfalt (er)leben" (Living Diversity) is a project group in which the students of all grades approach the topic of democracy in school in a playful way with the help of theater pedagogical exercises. The children were eager to get down to business and engaged with various impulses from inside and outside the school on this day.
And the projects at the other schools and kindergartens will also continue to generate great enthusiasm among many children in Ulm and Neu-Ulm until the end of the school year. In any case, we are super happy that we were able to make such a valuable difference with our donation and wish all participating children an exciting time with their projects.
Education fair 2023
The IT and medical sectors are industries with a future. So why not combine the two? No problem with us.
From application development and system integration to media design and office management - the opportunities for your start in professional life are as diverse as our everyday work.
And all of this is topped off by a great team and a beautiful work environment that make it a pleasure to come to work every day.
You want to learn more about us, our training and study offers? Then visit us from 09-11 February at the Ulm Education Fair, Hall: 1 Stand: 108.
We look forward to seeing you!