HealthTech companies across Europe are developing tools intended to improve patient care, reduce pressure on clinicians and help health services use limited resources more effectively. But getting a technology into a hospital for a pilot does not guarantee it will become part of routine care, according to an opinion article published by EU-Startups.
The piece says the challenge is particularly familiar to companies working with large public healthcare organisations such as the UK’s National Health Service and Ireland’s Health Service Executive. Their scale and responsibilities around patient safety and public spending can make organisations cautious about adopting new technologies.
Pilots can help clinicians assess how a product performs in practice and what needs to change before broader use. Yet questions about budgets, implementation responsibilities, compatibility with existing systems, training and ongoing support are often dealt with too late, the article argues, leaving successful trials unable to progress.
Support from an enthusiastic clinician may also be insufficient. Other departments and stakeholders may not share the same priorities, making it difficult to secure the organisation-wide backing needed to adopt a tool beyond the team that tested it.
Procurement presents another obstacle. Public healthcare buyers need confidence that suppliers are financially sound and meet clinical, technical and regulatory requirements. The article says this can disadvantage young companies that have not yet built a track record, even when their products have shown promise. That creates a cycle in which startups need contracts to gain experience but need experience to win contracts. A focus on immediate price can also make higher-cost technologies harder to approve.
The article warns that excessive caution can have consequences for patients, clinicians and public finances, as well as for European HealthTech businesses. Uncertain paths from pilot to purchase can make it harder for startups to plan growth and attract investment, and may lead some to seek markets where purchasing decisions are more straightforward.
To make wider adoption more achievable, the piece recommends involving procurement, finance, IT, operations and support teams from the beginning. Pilots should set out in advance what success means, which outcomes will be measured and what evidence would justify deployment at scale. Planning should also account for training, system integration, support costs and changes to existing workflows.
It also calls for procurement criteria to weigh risk, cost and long-term benefits, with evidence requirements proportionate to the contract and the consequences of failure. Healthcare organisations, it adds, should share lessons from both successful and unsuccessful pilots to help other teams avoid duplicating work.
The article notes that the NHS has published innovation guidelines to help innovators navigate routes to wider use. Ireland’s HSE introduced its Framework for Health Innovation this year, with the stated aim of creating a more consistent path from local ideas and pilots to lasting impact across the health system.
Sources: EU-Startups.