CMInen 2012 Event

Prof. Klink, former Minister of Health, gave a presentation on Why the healthcare system is obstructing innovation and how it can be restored. More and more diagnosis is possible in screening, however, the effects on mortality are marginal. Therefore, anxiety for patients and costs for (unnecessary) treatment are the result. This way of working is advocated by the current healthcare system. However, getting more precision in the diagnosis will decrease the over diagnosis and treatment and reduce the negative effects of current screening. Technological innovation is required to achieve this increase in precision in the diagnosis. However, promising areas for technological break are available but innovations often fail to break through in oud health care system. One of the problems is the fragmentation of healthcare, which hampers investment into innovations. Not only price of treatment should be the focus of research but also the decrease of volume since that is one of the major drivers behind the cost increase in healthcare.

Mr. van Schaik, director healthcare Rabobank, discussed Innovation in high technology health care environments in the perspective of the financial sector. In 2010 a book was published on diagnose 2025 to start the discussion on where the health sector would end up. This resulted in 17 trends in healtcare such as for example individualism, prevention, power to the patient, healthy ageing. The most important drivers for healthcare are the macro economy and politics. In 2010 they concluded at the healthcare system was not sustainable and needed disruptive changes in which technological innovations have to play an important role. Currently, this is further explored in a new initiative called diagnosis technology. This new initiative should provide insight in how and where technology can be used to improve healthcare. Currently we are at a point of a paradigm shift in healthcare from more cost reduction centric to innovation and patient centric.

Launch Center for Medical Imaging

Today the Center for Medical Imaging North East Netherlands (CMI-NEN) was launched. Presentations were given by representatives of government, industry, healthcare insurance companies and research groups providing a wide view on the possibilities and future perspectives of this Center of Research Excellence.
 
Within this CMI-NEN, Medical Imaging Informatics is a very prominent enabler and one of the discipline groups.

One of the main issues presented by several of the stakeholders is that cooperation between public and private entities is essential. Within CMI a large amount of companies, of which many are working in the area of medical imaging informatics, are cooperating with the university medical center groningen and the technical university twente.

Furthermore, medical imaging informatics is regarded one of the possible solutions to reduce the cost of healthcare in an ageing society and to increase productivity.

The digital imaging infrastructure is an important project of CMI-NEN which will be starting soon and aims to setup a unique and high-end multi-site digital medical research infrastructure.