Innovating in a hospital involves many pitfalls, which means that all too often good ideas end up in a drawer. It is often practical problems or a lack of knowledge that are not related to the idea itself but to the things that need to be organized in order to turn the idea into a product that can be used for patients. A healthcare provider who comes up with an idea cannot be expected to have this organizational knowledge. Support is needed from others who have done this before, know the pitfalls and have already developed solutions and formats that can be used for many practical obstacles. Máxima MC is therefore pleased to announce that as of 1 September we, the Pontes House, will be participating in the PontesNL network. Every month there is a Pontes House meeting with all the innovation managers of the houses, where each house puts forward current problems to which the PontesNL innovation managers Luuk Evers and Joep Welschen but also expressly the other innovation managers respond with ideas, advice, tips, solutions, formats, network contacts, etc. This cross-fertilization is problem-driven, customized and very valuable. Between the meetings there is also 1-on-1 coaching per house where local challenges are discussed in more detail. In PontesNL, years of experience of Luuk Evers, Joep Welschen and Sven de Cleyn are combined in Pontes Medical, Medtech Partners/Digital Health Partners and imec.istart respectively. Besides mentoring Pontes houses, PontesNL also offers an interactive knowledge platform for innovators in health and an 18-month customized acceleration program including investment fund for startups starting from TRL 4. See www.pontesnl.nl
