Luxembourg Healthtech Could Become Best In EU

Health systems across the planet are fighting similar battles. One upcoming fight is that rising life expectancies will eventually put cost pressure on governments, patients, and caregivers as chronic and degenerative diseases become more commonplace in the general population. This may coincide with a global lack of clinical resources, as is currently foreseen.

Policymakers, economists, and healthcare professionals are naturally hard at work to solve this looming problem. But, as has been the case in other industries, technologists want to contribute too—and with their unique and futuristic digital tools are seeking different ways of taking care of patients (read our Healthcare Reimagined report).

For instance, telemedicine platforms and connected objects can enable people to monitor and support themselves, which could help reduce congestion at clinics, promote more cost-effective homecare, and increase patient accountability. At its simplest, remote access to advice can connect patients in "medical deserts" (whether in terms of their location or other systemic failings) to doctors. These examples all represent improvements for healthcare providers, but at their core serve the most important factor of all: a more positive and more comfortable outcome for patients.

Big data and data analysis tools are also being employed in the name of prevention, a concept central to healthcare: it's cheaper and more effective to prevent than to react. (This is as true for healthcare professionals as it is for patients). Educational apps now exist to train patients on their own wellbeing, and wearable technologies help people understand their own bodies so as to live healthier lifestyles.

Finally, inside hospitals, artificial intelligence and process automation are also improving work environments by freeing up caregivers to focus more on patients.

Luxembourg has great circulation through its circuits

Across the EU, only 4% of hospitals dedicate a twentieth (or more) of their budgets to the digital world, whereas in Luxembourg that percentage is a much healthier 33%.1 Despite the country's smallness probably affecting this number, it nevertheless indicates the positive direction that the Grand Duchy is taking.

This is no accident: here in the Grand Duchy there are frameworks and initiatives promoting innovation and public/private partnerships. Several organisations like LuxInnovatoin additionally work to attract startups.

Take the Luxembourgish electronic...