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Health Innovation Campus
Published on 19 July 2018
Netherlands
Noord-Brabant
This is the good practice's implementation level. It can be national, regional or local.
About this good practice
The HIC is an initiative of the MMC offering an incubation center where stakeholders collaborate in an open innovation culture. Some of the focus areas include ‘basic care’, ‘delivery care’, ‘pediatrics and gynecology’, ‘oncology’, ‘prevention, rehabilitation and sports’ and ‘ICT and medical technology’. The incubator is focused on stimulating healthcare innovations through collaboration between MMC, care organisations, entrepreneurs and knowledge institutions. On top of services such as shared workplaces, development of concepts, testing innovations within living labs, access to funding and development of a business plan, the Incubator also provides access to the network of experts (both linked directly and indirectly to the hospital). The building which houses the incubator is connected directly to the hospital which only underlines the importance of proximity, having connections and being close to the people and the problems these innovations are addressing.
Resources needed
The initiative is financed through its owner, the Máxima Medical Center and partly through grants. As incubator however, access to financiers and a organized structure to facilitate start-ups is necessary. There is a dedicated team and management structure and access to funding through partners.
Evidence of success
Within the first two years of being set-up, the HIC already hosted 10 start-up companies, thus demonstrating a need for this closer connection and relationship between innovative companies and healthcare professionals and/or the clinical environment. Currently, the HIC is the home to five different organisations, some of which have been able to secure additional funding from, amongst other sources, the EU through the Horizon2020 programme.
Potential for learning or transfer
The model is replicable across other hospitals or regions, and other hospitals from the HELIUM consortium area also have similar initiatives in place. In that sense there are similarities amongst those initiatives which are also prevalent at the HIC which underline the key areas with potential for learning. Firstly, there is a need for such interaction between researchers and businesses to work together with healthcare professionals in the clinical settings. Parallel to this (and related specifically to the incubator) it is important to have a network or net around the incubator to ensure access to the best knowledge, and finally, access to finance is extremely important regardless of whether this is organised through external partners affiliated to the initiative or through the initiative itself.
Further information
Website
Good practice owner
Organisation
Health Innovation Campus BV
Netherlands
Noord-Brabant
Contact
Liaison and Funding Advisor