Sparking ideas for healthcare solutions in areas of ‘Bringing Care Home’ and ‘Real-world Data’

More than 130 participants develop project ideas at the EIT Health Ideation event on the campus of Roche Diagnostics Mannheim

The Ideation Workshops are intended to help EIT Health Partners develop project ideas that they can propose for EIT health’s Business Plan 2020.

Combining inspiring talks by Birgit Morlion of the European Commission and the future strategist Zanya Khayat with interactive ideation sessions, the event enabled stakeholders from industry, academic research, and healthcare provision to think beyond existing structures and constraints. As a result more than 60 ideas were generated over two days and enriched by the feedback of relevant stakeholders such as payers, patients and health economists.

Understanding the needs and mapping expertise in the two Focus Areas

The EIT Health Ideation Workshop elements were rooted in the Design Thinking approach. Together with the two keynote speakers Birgit Morlion and Zanya Khayat, EIT Health’s CEO Jan-Philipp Beck set the stage for guided group discussions around 12 subtopics that looked into the current situation of (home)care and the usage of real-world data. Having a variety of partners and stakeholders at the table allowed to map needs and assets of the innovation ecosystem present in EIT Health.

At the end of the day 14 group discussions developed 64 ideas how to implement novel solutions of the two Focus Areas of which 14 were further developed into posters to be presented to all participants on the second day of the event.

As a core service to the partners, assistants recorded the outcomes of the workshop live on the online ideation platform “WeDaVinci”. Partners and stakeholders received access to the platform for a quick and easy follow-up during and after the workshop allowing them to comment on ideas and to download them as PDF.

The ideas ranged from rehabilitation with wearables and AI at home over the recruitment of patients for clinical trials to a snapchat-like data access to patient data. Participants with WeDaVinci-Login can access all ideas here.

Start-ups pitch their healthcare solutions on the “Königin Silvia”

One of the highlights of the Annual Symposium was the dinner event on the “Königin Silvia” riverboat, with 12 start-up pitches applying for the 50,000€ Headstart funding of EIT Health. An external jury of 5 experts with diverse backgrounds were faced with the task to pick the best four of them and to announce them on the second day during the closing speech.

Stakeholders provide valuable feedback on project ideas

The second part of the event started with coffee and a newspaper issued around the outcomes and side stories of the previous day. After a quick recap by Katharina Ladewig, Managing Director of EIT Health Germany, all participants gathered in order to find out which ideas would have great potential to succeed. Therefore, additional experts and stakeholders such as health insurances, health economists, investors, patients and patent attorneys were invited to give feedback on the project ideas. To provide an overview, partners pitched their project ideas in 60 seconds on stage.

Afterwards, both partners and stakeholders had the chance to visit a poster session that included summaries of all 14 project ideas and a graphic visualization. Many people took to opportunity to provide feedback and left their business cards to become involved into the project idea.

Connecting the European innovation ecosystem

Broadening the horizon beyond EIT Health’s portfolio Bernd Finger (Ministry of Science, Federal State of Baden-Württemberg), Roberto Zuffada (EIP-AHA) and Geja Langerveld (AAL Initiative) provided insights into regional and European activities and discussed with the audience how collaborations between these initiatives could create value for the innovation ecosystem in Europe.

During the closing ceremony, Freimut Schliess, Director for Science&Innovation at Profil GmbH and member of the German Supervisory Board, announced the four winners of the Headstart Funding of EIT Health Germany:

1. Heyfair
2. Dust BioSolutions
3. SensArs Neuroprosthetics
4. Medical Templates

We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the success of the Ideation Workshop. The event enabled more than 130 partners and stakeholders to form new connections across borders and sectors resulting in new ideas that could be supported by EIT Health within the Business Plan 2020.

The road to EIT Health’s Business Plan 2020

EIT Health partners and relevant stakeholders are invited to join further EIT Health Ideation Workshops, where participants will develop concepts for project proposals for EIT Health’s Business Plan 2020:

EIT Health Ideation Workshop on 7 and 8 November 2018 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands:

• “Employer leadership in improving health outcomes in the workplace”: From workplace to health place – EIT Health will deliver improved healthcare to employees and consequent financial benefits to employers, by going beyond the traditional expectation of employer responsibility for health in the workplace.
• “Foster healthy lives by introducing behavioural change”: From dealing with disease and disability to healthy lives – EIT Health will supply tools & incentives to citizens to modify their way of life, to prevent early onset of ageing, disease and disability, and to profit from more years in health and wellbeing. EIT Health will focus on providing opportunities especially to children, and other vulnerable or marginalised groups in society.

Further details and registration here

EIT Health Ideation Workshop on 19 and 20 November 2018 in Madrid, Spain:

• Creating the enabling environment for healthcare transformation: From the current challenge to a sustainable future – EIT Health will deliver an organisational evolution in healthcare management, with value-based benefits for citizens and consequent financial benefits to society, by designing and demonstrating innovation in management models and aligned training
• Towards Health continuum care pathways: From treatment centric limitations to the health continuum breadth – EIT Health will lead reform of care pathways, undertaking the design and evidence-based implementation of innovative care and health delivery solutions.

Further details can be found here

Register here

Pick up ideas and grow them into EIT Health projects

The ideation workshop has been just been the start for developing new projects that can be supported in the EIT Health Business Plan 2020. With the upcoming ideation workshops the WeDaVinci platform will be enriched with further project ideas. Partners can request access to pick up the ideas, to comment on existing topics or to create own ideas to find partners: https://eit.wedavinci.com

If you have further questions, please contact:

• Eva-Maria Markutzik, Innovation Manager EIT Health Germany.