Project

Fraunhofer Institute for
Systems and Innovation Research ISI

Policy-Benchmarking Medical Technology. Innovations in medical technology – Challenges for Research, Health Care and Economic Policy

Medical technology falls within the responsibility of health care, research and economic policy. This poses the innovation policy challenge of coordinating the partly synergistic, but also diverging objectives, measures and instruments of the respective policy fields in such a manner that favourable framework conditions are created for the development and clinical application of medico-technical innovations, which guarantee a qualitatively high-grade and simultaneously cost-efficient health care system, and in addition make a positive contribution to (general) economic development. Problems emerge at the interfaces between different policy fields in chronological coordination, on the one hand, but also in prioritising goals and in re-solving the ensuing conflicts on the other hand.

Current studies of medical technology in Germany indicate that an appropriate design/organisation of the interfaces among research, health policy and economic policy could contribute to overcoming existing obstacles and meeting challenges in medical technology. Due to the great significance of medical technology, as well as the challenge to (greatly) improve/re-organise the framework conditions, a policy benchmarking exercise is being carried out on behalf of the Federal Parliament’s Committee for Education, Research and Technology Impact Assessment.

The objective of the policy benchmarking report in medical technology is to analyse, at the interfaces between research, health policy and economic policy,

  • which demands emerge for research policy in the field of medical technology from health policy and economic policy goals and strategies, to what extent are they synergistic, complementary or conflicting,
  • by which mechanisms, procedures and instruments could this situation be taken into account in practice, or is being taken into account, to resolve conflicting aims and exploit synergies,
  • to identify and characterise "good practice" examples for "coordinated innovation policy" in selected reference countries and to examine to what extent international "good practice" examples can be transferred to conditions in Germany and thus serve as models,
  • on this basis, ascertain required actions and develop options with regard to procedures, processes and instruments to achieve a coordinated innovation policy for medical technology in Germany mainly from a research policy viewpoint.
The main focus of the study will be on policies affecting the knowledge-base for innovations in the area of medical technology.

In a first step, the strengths and weaknesses of the regulatory framework conditions, the public promotional landscape in the medical technology field and the medical technology industry in Germany will be analysed in order to identify those critical areas in particular for which (proposed) solutions should be developed. This step should also provide reference points for selecting problem-oriented case studies.

The concrete case studies will examine to what degree the measures and actors take account of the demands which arise for educational and research policy in medical technology from health care and economic policy objectives, and by means of which mechanisms, procedures, institutions and instruments priorities are successfully set, target conflicts resolved and synergies exploited.

On the basis of the analysis, options for activities will be developed with regard to procedures, processes and instruments to achieve a coordinated innovation policy for medical technology in Germany from a research policy perspective.
 
Status:
Ongoing Project (04/2007-11/2008)