A consortium of seven leading European university hospitals, coordinated by Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden, joined efforts to innovate procurement of digital health and care services.
The project engaged important stakeholder groups, such as hospitals, developers, industrial partners, medical researchers and health professionals as well as patients, in order to address unmet needs in hospital services and develop methods for procurement of innovation. The project was funded by Horizon 2020, the European Union research framework program. It kicked-off during the first project meeting in Vienna on 3rd December 2018, and ran until 31st May 2022.
The digital transformation of healthcare asks for the procurement of innovative solutions for which public-private collaborations are essential. Currently, these collaborations are often reactive and not fully connected with healthcare needs and stakeholders’ involvement. To address this challenge, the Platform for Procurement of Innovation and Innovation of Procurement created a cross-border Community of Practice of European university hospitals. The platform brings together expertise on digital healthcare, patient-centred care and procurement from the demand and supply side with the ultimate aim to address shared unsolved clinical challenges.
The consortium consisted of leading European university hospitals that are members of the European University Hospital Alliance (EUHA), as well as additional partners including affiliated research institutions and an independent health quality and assessment agency. The project was supported by EUHA, EIT Health and MedTech Europe.