HYTKI builds service models that enable peer learning to support companies, research institutes, and municipal and city actors in executing secondary use of data and usage of health and wellbeing data in their business, research, and service production.

HYTKI focuses on:

• Identifying and making visible the special expertise of the participating regions
• Data on new product and service innovations, business, and new value as part of proactive healthcare and well-being also in urban development
• Operating models and capabilities of data utilisation and analytical skills

The project partners are the University of Oulu (coordinator), BusinessOulu, Kajaani University of Applied Sciences, CEMIS, KuopioHealth co-op, Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences, and Turku Science Park. The project is funded through The Council of Oulu Region (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland’s support for thematic network collaboration), until the end of 2023.

More information on the HYTKI project site and www.hytki.fi

The Smart-RDI environment project is a continuum for OuluHealth ecosystem activities. The project promotes digital transition and the uptake of digital technologies and solutions. The aim is to develop the Smart RDI environment with its operating models and services. The new RDI environment of the OuluHealth ecosystem will promote digitalisation and support the co-development of wireless technologies and virtual solutions, such as VR / AR devices and mobile services. This aim will be achieved with a strategic approach involving partnership between several target groups. The project activities bring together companies, researchers, developers and healthcare providers. The project responds to societal challenges, especially when creating novel digital path solutions for customers, and in developing new wireless, digital and data-led services and businesses.

More information: https://www.oulu.fi/en/projects/smart-rdi-environment-digital-solutions-health-and-well-being

Digital Health (DigiHealth) is part of the 5th profiling theme of the University of Oulu. It aims at international breakthroughs in the development and application of novel digitalised solutions to predict progression of diseases and in offering personalised therapies in a cost-effective and patient-centric way. There are four different research topics in DigiHealth: DigiHealth1 creates novel, integrated next-generation bioinformatics and biosensor data solutions, DigiHealth2 creates system level architecture for health data management and sustainable communication networks, DigiHealth3 develops medical AI for early detection and diagnosis to support clinical decision making and personalised medicine, and DigiHealth4 offers a novel value chain capability in establishing digital healthcare solutions.

Participants in DigiHealth: Faculty of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Information and Electrical Engineering and the School of Economics, University of Oulu. Research activities are located at the university campuses of Kontinkangas and Linnanmaa. In addition to the university and Oulu University Hospital, OAMK (Oulu University of Applied Sciences) also participates in DigiHealth activities.

For more information and news, see https://www.oulu.fi/en/creating-better-health-our-digital-health-knowhow

NACCOP – An Arctic platform for innovation work in healthcare

The NACCOP (Nordic Arctic Co-creation Platform) project’s target was to strengthen the innovation work of SMEs in healthcare and wellbeing by developing an Arctic platform for the Nordic countries to co-operate through a quadruple helix model. The platform supported ecosystem work and provided a network of innovation environments and services. It brought together stakeholders from all sectors of society and enabled SMEs to develop innovative new solutions.

Small and medium-sized companies were thus able to develop innovative products and services through multi-professional cooperation, based on the needs of the end-users from the public healthcare sector. The expertise of the universities brought in research-based product and service development.

To Connect and Collaborate

The co-creation platform was the channel for SMEs to connect, collaborate across borders, and innovate together. The platform enabled the development of new digital tools, digital social innovation, new services as well as new business models for health and wellbeing services. The platform also enabled knowledge sharing and strengthened the possibilities to live and work in the north.

https://www.oamk.fi/en/partnership/rdi-projects/naccop 

POPsote – a reform of health and social services in Northern Ostrobothnia

The Health and social services reform is a national reform led by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.

The objective of the reform is to ensure the health and social services equally for all Finnish people.

The focus will be on the basic services and the early problem prevention. The possibility to get help in an early phase is important in order to stop a small issue from escalating.

One of the main issues is to improve the availability of the services and accelerate the access to treatment. In the health and social centres of the future the customer will receive all the needed services in one place.

The population of Northern Ostrobothnia is ageing rapidly and is in more need of services than before.The decreasing birthrate, on the other hand, will reduce the number of working-age people contributing to tax revenue. The health and social services will be reformed, so that the rise of costs can be stopped and the equal health and social services for future generations can be secured as well.

The service reform in Northern Ostrobothnia will focus on the citizens

We have established the POPsote-project in the Northern Ostrobothnia in order to move the reform forward in our region. All of the municipalities and the health and social service organisations are part of the project.

The objective of the reform is to improve the availability of health and social services and the service experience. The development work will be done together with the people of the municipalities and multiple stakeholders.

You can follow the national health and social services reform at soteuudistus.fi

Read more: https://popsote.fi/

The main idea of this project is to modernise Oulu University Hospital (OYS) in such a way that it becomes the smartest hospital in the world, utilising the most advanced technologies and providing personalised and effective healthcare services.

The Future Hospital project also brings business opportunities for health technology companies that provide innovative health solutions.

OYS 2030

This project referred to a national network of researchers working in the e-health domain and focusing on the new digital health services provided by Virtual Hospital 2.0. The e-health researcher network shared results and best practices. It also facilitated collaboration in research.

Read more information about this project and its results.

The Finnish Coordinating Center for Health Technology Assessment (FinCCHTA) is located at the Oulu University Hospital (OYS). The objective of the unit is to coordinate Health Technology Assessment (HTA) in Finland as well as to cooperate with international HTA bodies. Other key objectives are to develop HTA methodological training and strengthen its related research.

FinCCHTA also wants to develop its operations in the field of digital healthcare. For this reason, the new Digi-HTA assessment method has been introduced as part of FinCCHTA’s activities. Digi-HTA was developed under the DigiHealth HUB project and in cooperation with the University of Oulu and FinCCHTA. Digi-HTA provides evidence-based information about new digital healthcare solutions, such as mobile applications and artificial intelligence and robotics solutions. The Digi-HTA recommendations are published on the FinCCHTA website and are freely available to all healthcare stakeholders.

www.digi-HTA.fi

DigiHealth Hub is a focal point of support in the fields of data-driven health and well-being innovations, and deploying and assessing digital health service. DigiHealth Hub initiative reinforces digital transformation of health and well-being. It speeds up the uptake and exploitation of emerging digital health technologies while rethinking development and innovations in health and well-being. It creates competence networks to identify and spread the knowledge and best practices of exploiting health data and to study the impact of implementation of digital health solutions.

www.oulu.fi/cht/digihealthhub

inDemand provided a new model of co-creation of digital health solutions by healthcare organisations and health companies, with the economic support of public regional funds.

The project was a perfect example of co-creation that we value so much in Oulu. It established a win-win process in which healthcare organisations and IT companies collaborate closely to develop new, innovative digital solutions. The companies got privileged access to end-users and got to fully understand their problems and needs. Healthcare personnel actively participated in this development and co-creation process. This demand-driven co-creation process ensured shorter development time between problem definition and solution adoption, raised healthcare organisation staff’s awareness of the benefits of digital health solutions, and contributed to accelerating the digitalisation of healthcare organisations. The new process was extensively tested in three pilot regions – Murcia in Spain, Paris in France, and Oulu in Finland. The inDemand project was completed in November 2020 but it is still very much alive. The three pilot regions continue to use the co-creation model, and several EU projects are implementing the new methodology.

Read more about inDemand and its results: https://ec.europa.eu/research-and-innovation/en/projects/success-stories/all/clever-shortcut-useful-innovations-healthcare