Successes and Barriers for innovation in Health Care

Innovation in health care systems is necessary to successfully provide care for an increasing number of patients at lower costs and with higher quality. However, the healthcare sector has many difficulties in adopting new innovations. Problems are technological, sociological, systemic and legal. Entrepreneurs are eager to participate and change the system, but they experience barriers. Furthermore, people working within the public health care system often face barriers to innovation. In Europe, every country has its own healthcare and innovation system with its own characteristics, but the problems faced are often similar.

Yet all health care systems also experiment with new ways of stimulating innovation and opening new venues for intrapreneurs as well as medtech and pharmaceutical firms to test new solutions. More efficient innovation organisations, developing an innovative culture, innovation competitions and compensation systems that reward quality are just a few examples. Here countries have much to learn from each other’s experience.

In this seminar, speakers from Sweden, the Netherlands and Switzerland present their insights and experiences. What are the differences? Which are the barriers? What solutions can we find and what can we learn from each other?