Danish health tech maturity makes Denmark perfect place for Europe's largest knowledge festival

Sep 7 2017

The coming together of health professionals from more than 30 countries for the WHINN - Week of Health and Innovation in Odense in October is the result of Danish health tech maturity.

Health technology. Huge investment in health technology, super hospitals and robotics, together with public-private partnerships and a high rate of adaptation, form the basis for the growing interest in Denmark as the health technology laboratory of Europe. As the number of carers decreases and the number of patients grows, there is an increasing need to come up with health technology solutions for the future:

"With technological giants such as Apple and Philips on the list of participants, there is no doubt that WHINN is fast becoming big business. That's why it's important for us to reach out to Europe and the rest of the world, while taking care of everything that makes Denmark unique."

So says Christian Graversen, Executive Director of the Danish health technology business cluster, Welfare Tech. He is also quick to point out the value of the tradition of public-private partnerships as a competitive parameter in relation to the rest of Europe.

Unique gathering of health professionals

Advances in health tech depend on the success for professional staff who utilizes the technology on a day-to-day basis. That is precisely why Denmark is the perfect place to have Europe's largest health technology knowledge festival. That is the opinion of Danielle Siarri (InnoNurse), a nurse and an influencer in the field of international nursing.

"I've visited Denmark on a previous occasion to study Danish health innovation, because the technology here is some of the most advanced in Europe. It's clear that the open collaborative culture with public-private partnerships helps create a favourable environment for health innovation, and I'm sure things will just accelerate when participants from so many countries flock together."

Danielle also believes that the decision to keep WHINN free of isolated financial interest by running the knowledge festival as a non-profit organization, helps make the event unique in Europe.

Digital delivery rooms

Danish health innovation is wasting no time. The sensory technology company, Wavecare is one of the companies currently experiencing the potential of reaping the benefits of the innovation-friendly Danish healthcare system. After more than 10 years of development and impact measurement across the public sector, Wavecare is facing a global breakthrough with its so-called 'Sensory Delivery Room'. Using stress-reducing sound and light concepts, it reduces the number of emergency caesarean sections and the duration of births. One of Wavecare's two partners, Bjoern Wennerwald, believes that this is what makes WHINN such a great showcase:

"In the past three years Wavecare has installed sensory delivery rooms in 10 Danish and Chinese hospitals, and last year the company made a profit for the first time. Now we're ready to realise the business element, and that means that health professionals need to experience the concept."

This year Wavecare expects to double its turnover, and by 2018, when the first overseas sensory delivery rooms and other Wavecare solutions are implemented in Asia, Australia and the Middle East, Bjoern Wennerwald expects turnover to increase tenfold.

The design of Wavecare's sensory delivery room is the result of 10 years of development and studies in a number of Denmark's largest hospitals. But the real evidence will not be available until early 2018, when the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) publishes a research report based on the first studies. In other words, while it is a still a matter of indications, it has been convincing enough to awaken global interest in the product.

Enthusiasm for Danish sound and light

The sensory delivery room is just the first in a series of products in the pipeline, which are based on soothing sound and light concepts. The overseas markets are responding extremely positively to the combination of measurable efficiency, Scandinavian quality and Danish skills in the fields of acoustic technology and lighting design. Bjoern Wennerwald emphasizes that the sensory delivery rooms are just the start:

"For almost three years we've been working on the reduction of coercion in psychiatry, focusing on dedicated sensory rooms to promote de-escalation and reassurance. Results have been convincing in this area too. So far there have been 30 installations, and there are more in the pipeline."

Bjoern also points out that it is not only psychologically vulnerable individuals and patients coming for examination and treatment who benefit from these sensory rooms. Healthcare professionals also experience a less stressful working environment.

Source: http://www.whinn.dk/