Zuid-Holland region invests in healthcare technology

Apps that support you in dealing with diabetes, Virtual Reality glasses for people with a mental disorder, a mattress that monitors how patients are doing. They are technical solutions that give people control over their health, help patients recover or support caregivers in their daily work. These technological solutions improve healthcare and keep healthcare affordable.

The Zuid-Holland region houses many innovative companies that come up with technological solutions like this. Unfortunately, implementation on a large scale is still insufficient. The 23 municipalities in the metropolitan region of Rotterdam The Hague (MRDH) are focusing on more cooperation between and support for companies in this sector, through the Innovation Technology Care Technology Program. They do this by linking companies to field and living labs and organizing meetings on sector-wide themes such as cyber security. They do this together with the province Zuid-Holland, TNO, Medical Delta and InnovationQuarter.

For companies that develop care products, it is often difficult to market them in large quantities. More than ‘normal’ products, medical products must go through an extensive testing phase and receive approval before it can be sold. Not every company, often startups, can bear the costs involved. Reimbursement via health insurance is also a complicated process that makes growth in this sector more difficult.

Cooperation gives a boost to the sector

Alderman Bas Vollebregt, portfolio holder Knowledge & Innovation within the MRDH: “The healthcare sector in Zuid-Holland is doing very well, but the network is very fragmented. Collaboration between companies, field labs, living labs and care providers can help innovation in the healthcare sector. By financially supporting the cooperation between these parties, innovation in this sector is given a major boost. Entrepreneurs with a good new product can, in co-creation with living labs, field labs and health care providers, test their product better and get onto the market faster. Successful companies attract other companies and this creates a good business climate in the region. "

A company that has already passed the testing stages of their product is Momo Medical. They marketed a sensor mat for hospital bed mattresses. This sensor mat helps to prevent bedsores in patients. The sensors are used to signal the medical staff to help patients with changing position in time. The company from Delft now wants to continue testing and evaluating their product for use in operating theaters together with the Medical Delta Living Lab ResearchOR at Reinier de Graaf Hospital. This is an example of a project that can be submitted to the innovation program.

Investment of € 900,000

MRDH, the province Zuid-Holland, InnovationQuarter and TNO have already set up other innovation programs. The aim is to strengthen field lab cooperation in the region, for example to stimulate the manufacturing industry and to support companies that are active around energy and climate. The MRDH has made € 900,000 available for the Healthcare Technology program.

Various existing field and living labs are currently connected to the Care Technology program, including the five Medical Delta Living Labs and the Dutch Optics Center of TNO. In addition, the care institutions Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, Reinier de Graaf Hospital Delft, Rijndam Rehabilitation Rotterdam and Basalt Rehabilitation are also involved. In the network, the parties involved share the results of the projects. By exchanging these experiences, the companies and healthcare institutions in the region strengthen their innovative power.

The program starts in January. The aim is to allocate financing to specific projects in April 2020.