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Healthcare innovation truly works when we not only develop technology, but also engage patients, healthcare providers, businesses and decision-makers in a shared learning process.

Central European healthcare systems are operating under increasing pressure: the population is ageing, the number of chronic patients is growing, care systems are overburdened and resources are scarce – despite this, existing capacities are often used wastefully, while many digital healthcare solutions are slow to progress from development to everyday care. The aim of the Health Labs4Value project was to introduce value-based healthcare: to develop a patient-centred approach that utilises scarce resources according to real health gains, without waste. To achieve this, the project established five regional Living Labs in Hungary, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland, where innovations could be tested in a real-world care environment.

Who is it useful for?

Health Labs4Value is for those who treat healthcare innovation not as a standalone technological development, but as a patient-centred, institutional and policy-driven change.

    • For healthcare institutions
      It helps to understand how supply processes, patient journey management and institutional operations can be improved with digital solutions.
 
    • For private and public healthcare providers
      Patient experience, process optimisation and data-driven service development are important in both care settings.
 
    • For digital health developers and medtech businesses
      The Living Lab model supports development and testing based on real patient and institutional needs.
 
    • For patients and relatives
      Because of the project's patient-centred approach, users are not passive stakeholders, but can be important participants in the development process.
 
  • For health policy and innovation support stakeholders
    It provides lessons on how to support the implementation of digital, value-based and patient-centred healthcare innovations.

Why is this needed?

Healthcare system capacities cannot be expanded indefinitely; therefore, it is increasingly important for care to become smarter, more patient-centred and value-based.

The ageing of the population, the increase in chronic diseases, staff shortages and institutional overload, as well as the wasteful use of resources, are simultaneously hampering the functioning of healthcare systems. Many digital health solutions already exist, but their implementation is often slow: they do not always fit real patient pathways, institutional processes or professional decision-making situations. Health Labs4Value provided a Living Lab-based response to this problem. Patients, care providers, developers, businesses and decision-makers jointly identified the challenges and then developed digital solutions that can be tested in real-life environments. For Central Transdanubia, this is important because the project has strengthened KDRIÜ's e-health, technology transfer and Living Lab-based innovation competence.

How does the project help?

The project did not simply test digital health tools, but showed how innovation can be tailored to the real needs of patients, carers and institutions.

Health Labs4Value was built on the principles of Open Innovation 2.0: not only researchers and service providers, but also businesses, decision-makers, patients and relatives were involved in the innovation process. The main elements of the project:

  • Development of a Healthcare Living Lab methodology
  • Application of a value-based healthcare service development framework
  • Establishment of 5 territorial Living Labs
  • Testing of 5 patient-centred digital pilot solutions
  • Organisation of Open Innovation Camps and focus groups;
  • Establishment of a transnational network and a joint strategy up to 2035.
Following the closure of the project, the most important asset is the methodology, the experience gained from the pilots, and the networked operational model that can also be utilised in other healthcare innovation projects.

Practical application

The project becomes tangible when a healthcare institution wants to improve its own patient journey, processes or digital service.

Let us imagine a healthcare provider that would reduce waiting times, make the patient journey more transparent, simplify administration, or better track outpatient and inpatient care processes. The challenge is not merely technological: the solution must fit the real daily operations of doctors, nurses, administrative staff, and patients. The logic of the Health Labs4Value Living Lab helps with this: through joint problem identification, user involvement, developer collaboration, and testing in a real-world environment. The Hungarian pilot, in the cooperation of KDRIÜ and TritonLife, focused on the digitalisation and optimisation of care processes.

Our role

As a lead partner, the KDRIÜ helped ensure that healthcare innovation was not a series of isolated pilots, but a process supported by methodology, a network and a long-term strategy.

KDRIÜ coordinated the international partnership and was responsible for bringing together the professional, organisational and strategic frameworks of the project. It played a prominent role in developing the Living Lab methodology, the transnational network, the territorial action plans and the long-term strategic framework. In Hungary, KDRIÜ joined the pilot process in cooperation with TritonLife Magánkórházak Zrt., which was built on the digitalisation and optimisation of care processes. The project strengthened KDRIÜ's competences in e-health, patient-centred innovation and Living Lab-based development.

Partnership

The Health Labs4Value partnership connected healthcare institutions, innovation actors, medtech ecosystems and methodological partners in Central Europe. 11 partners implemented it with the participation of 6 countries and 7 regions.

Managing partner:

  • Central Transdanubian Regional Innovation Agency Nonprofit Ltd. – Hungary
Project partners:
  • TritonLife Private Hospitals Plc – Hungary
  • Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia – MedTech Slovenia – Slovenia
  • General Hospital Jesenice – Slovenia
  • Carus Consilium Sachsen GmbH – Germany
  • Dresden University Hospital – Germany
  • Medical University of Lodz – Poland
  • Central Teaching Hospital of the Medical University of Lodz – Poland
  • Centre for Social Innovation – ZSI – Austria
  • Krajská nemocnice Liberec – Czechia
  • DEX Innovation Centre – Czechia

Are you interested in the project?

For further information, please visit the official project page or contact the project manager.

Official project page

Programme

  • Interreg Central Europe

Full project title

  • Health Labs4Value - Establishment of sustainable structures for the deployment of innovations, transfer of technologies, and knowledge in health care systems in Central Europe based on Open Innovation 2.0 principles

Status

  • Closed

Maturity period

  • 1 March 2023 – 28 February 2026.

Project
ID

  • CE0100013

Project participants

István Hegedűs, Senior Project Coordinator of KDRIÜ

István Hegedűs

lead project coordinator

View profile

Results and related knowledge base materials

The results of Health Labs4Value are truly useful when the knowledge gained from pilots, methodologies and strategies can also be applied in other healthcare innovation processes.

    • 5 patient-centred digital solutions
      Pilot solutions in real healthcare settings in Hungary, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland.
 
    • Hungarian pilot: optimisation of supply processes
      The Hungarian pilot implemented in cooperation between TritonLife and KDRIÜ focused on the digitalisation and simplification of care processes.
 
    • Transnational Strategy for Network of Health Labs4Value 2035
      Common strategic framework for the long-term development of the Health Labs4Value network.
 
    • Spatial action plans
      Five action plans that adapt the common strategic framework to the needs of local healthcare ecosystems.
 
    • Living Lab methodology
      A practical approach to organising healthcare institutions, patients, businesses, researchers, and decision-makers into a collaborative development process.
 
    • Value-Based Healthcare approach
      Value-based healthcare approach that focuses on the patient outcome, safety, and effectiveness generated by the care.
 
  • eFactsheet, project videos and media materials
    Short, shareable materials on the pilots, results and project lessons.

Regional health action plan

The Health Labs4Value action plan is a three-year strategic initiative aimed at improving Hungary's healthcare situation by promoting innovation, optimising healthcare processes, and strengthening international cooperation.

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  • 2024
  • Health Labs4Value partnership

Related communication content

Health Labs4Value Project Brochure

A brochure introducing the Health Labs4Value project.

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  • 2026
  • Health Labs4Value partnership