Digital Health

The terms eHealth, Digital Health, or Health IT describe the process of digitalization within the healthcare sector. Key players in this development are based in the German capital region Berlin-Brandenburg. This area is considered one of Europe’s most attractive life science and healthcare locations with its comprehensive portfolio of companies, research institutes, clinics, service providers, and established networks. Gathering more than 670 biotech, pharmaceutical, and medtech companies, as well as 140 hospitals, the region is also an important hub of the IT industry including a growing number of IT companies focused on the healthcare market. This environment provides ideal conditions for the development, evaluation, and marketing of innovative digital health solutions.

Fresh solutions for digital health by startups 

With their innovative spirit and digital expertise, startups deliver fresh solutions for the digital transformation in the healthcare industry. The German capital region is home to over one hundred digital health startups and the numbers are growing each year. They develop mobile apps and wearables to empower patients suffering from chronic diseases and to assist in their self-management. State-of-the-art technologies like machine learning, artificial intelligence, and big data accelerate new applications. The regional startup ecosystem is highly self-organized and offers young pioneers a broad range of events such as meet-ups, barcamps, seed camps, and hackathons.

Incubators and accelerators 

Increasing numbers of global players and companies based in Berlin are seeking to forge contacts with startups to invent new digital products and methods for the healthcare market. Berlin hosts over 60 accelerators and incubators, many of them in the healthcare sector, including the Bayer Grants4Apps Accelerator, the helios.hub by the hospital operator Helios, the Healthcare Hub Berlin by Pfizer, the Flying Health Incubator, and the Startupbootcamp. A large number of private and public sector investors complement these services in funding programs that bolster the immense potential.

Connected healthcare solutions 

Telemedicine and electronic health information exchange are among the most important topics that are actively addressed by the stakeholders in the Berlin-Brandenburg cluster for healthcare industries and life sciences. Several high-profile international research projects and clinical trials in telemedicine (FONTANE, CardioBBEAT) in Berlin-Brandenburg lead to new scientific data and foster the development of marketable telemedical products by industrial partners. One of the cluster’s key topics is the development and application of big data technologies within medicine. Specialized in precision and system medicine, the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), the Berlin Big Data Center (BBDC) under the auspices of TU Berlin, and the Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Engineering (HPI) in Potsdam are shaping the future at an international level.