NRW is developing into a digital health location

According to a study, there are more and more start-ups offering digital health products and services in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) counts an impressive 120 digital health start-ups for the whole of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). The federal state is becoming an increasingly popular location for young companies that want to shake up the healthcare sector.

"The number of start-ups in the field of digital health continues to rise," says Sebastian Merkel, holder of the Junior Professorship for Health and E-Health at RUB. The start-ups' offerings ranged from platform approaches for recruiting staff or for further training courses, for example, to digital health applications for prevention or therapy.

However, despite the good figures, the founders surveyed would like to see further improvements for their location. "Market access and (re-)financing are the main issues mentioned here," reports Merkel. Access to players in the healthcare sector, such as clinics or doctors in private practice, is often difficult. Many respondents also stated that they did not always know which offices they could turn to in order to find sector-specific information.

The authors recommend four measures to further improve the location: Firstly, there needs to be continuous monitoring with a focus on digital health start-ups. In addition, a central point of contact is important in order to promote exchange within the start-up landscape. Thirdly, they advocate industry-specific training courses. Competence networks in which start-ups can work together with patients, healthcare facilities and other companies at an early stage are also crucial.