NRW is developing into a digital health location

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

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

"The number of start-ups in the digital health sector continues to rise," says Sebastian Merkel, holder of the Junior Professorship for Health and E-Health at RUB. The offerings of the start-ups ranged from platform approaches for, for example, the recruitment of personnel or for further training courses, 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. "Here, market access and (re)financing are primarily mentioned," Merkel reports. Access to players in the healthcare sector, such as clinics or physicians in private practice, is often difficult. Many respondents also said they did not always know where to turn to find industry-specific information.

To further improve the site, the authors recommend four measures: First, there needs to be continuous monitoring with a focus on digital health startups. In addition, a central point of contact is important to promote exchange within the startup landscape. Third, they advocate industry-specific training programs. In addition, competence networks are crucial, in which startups can collaborate with patients and healthcare institutions as well as other companies at an early stage.