It is well known that events are one of the main mean to gather a huge number of stakaholders from the healthcare sector. For that reason, Procure4Health Community took part in the first edition of the Radical Health Festival held in Helsinki, Finland, from 12th to 14th June 2023. We get involved in ground-breaking discussions about the future of healthcare and learnt from top experts from digital healthcare. Radical Health Festival Helsinki brought together a unique interdisciplinary community of like-minded digital healthcare visionaries aiming to revolutionize modern healthcare and make it sustainable again.

Procure4Health was represented by its Project Coordinator Carlos Larrañeta from Fundación Progreso y Salud, entity belonging to the Andalusian Health Service, Spain. He was discussing with others healthcare experts during the session “How can we make healthcare Innovation Procurement more impactful?” moderated by Myriam Martín Delgado from Ticbiomed, one of our Procure4Health founding members.

This round table was also made up by two partners from the European Project AICCELERATE, Alberto Tozzi, Head of Predictive and Preventive Medicine Research Unit at Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù (Italy) and Timo Alalääkkölä, Development Manager, Head of Testing and Innovations at Oulu University Hospital (Finland). AICCELERATE is developing the Smart Hospital Care Pathway Engine, an AI-based tool that aims to demonstrate the scalability of the solutions provided by the engine to different types of healthcare uses.

Speakers shared their thoughts and concerns by focusing on innovation procurement as a tool to introduce innovation in healthcare organisations and to accelerate the adoption of innovative solutions

Alberto Tozzi and Timo Alalääkkölä shared their insights based on the experience they gain from daily work at their hospitals. In addition, they agreed that education plays a key role for an improved Procurement of Innovation process. New education programmes are essentials to move forward and transform the current education system in healthcare.

“It is key that we listen to the healthcare professionals when identifying unmet needs. They must be involved in the Innovation Procurement process from the very beginning”. Alberto Tozzi.

“In Finland, professionals have a similar feeling. The definition of challenges should bring from the healthcare professionals as they are the employees that need an improved situation within the healthcare services”. Timo Alalääkkölä.

We were discussing how to involve clinicians in the definition of challenges given that there is not a solid structure established yet for the organisation of the healthcare procurement. We agreed that this process should be systematize through an accurate officce devoted to Innovation Procurement for a better coordination among the different actors involved in the process. Carlos Larrañeta pointed out the use case from Fundación Progreso y Salud that counts with this specific office through which they are developing “The Early Detection of Needs Map” in Andalusian Health Service.

“Innovation Procurement is complex, not in terms of technical requirements but in terms of management. Innovation Procurement is not espontaneus, it requires a strategy behind”. Carlos Larrañeta.

At the end of the day the biggest issue to be addresed with regards to Procurement of Innovation is that innovative solutions are not adopted beyond the projects. This is why Myriam Martín highlighted that “Digital transformation requires that we innovate procurement processes of successfully piloted innovations”.

To wrap-up the session, speakers and moderator put on the table some takeaways for an initial roadmap on how to co-create solutions for greater adoption:

• Healthcare organisations have to design a roadmap from the day one and stick to it
• All stakeholders must be involved in the Innovation Procurement process from the very beginning
• Hospital Management have to listen and talk to all actors involved in the process as they are the end-users of the solution developed to cover the unmet needs identified
• Interdisciplinary component is key for a better communication among departments in order to understand people from different disciplines within the healthcare sector
• Human resources are still to be improved. Lack of time and workflows are the reality from most of the hospitals nowadays
• Learning is quite important, but healthcare professionals need time to learn and they should be motivated to do it
• As for the suppliers, if there is a plan established in advance, it should not be difficult to incorporate them in the process
• No resources, no commitment. Healthcare professionals are requesting more resources, otherwise they will not be commited to tackle the future challenges
• Add experts from the healthcare organisations legal department from the first stage
• Increase the investment capacity within the healthcare providers

Find out more about the session and Radical Health Festival Helsinki by clicking here.