The University of Twente is set to spearhead the CARE-FLOW project, a four-year initiative aimed at enhancing cross-border healthcare partnership between the Netherlands and Germany.
The project focuses on intelligent decision-support in capacity planning and optimisation of patient flow to address the growing pressures on healthcare systems due to rising costs, increasing demand, and shortages of staff.
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Healthcare spending is at an all-time high in Germany and the Netherlands.
The escalating costs, coupled with an ageing population, are placing strain on emergency services, hospitals and care facilities.
In border regions, these challenges are intensified by a lack of coordination, resulting in inefficiencies.
Although cross-border collaboration has proven effective during crises, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, it remains largely manual and fragmented.
The CARE-FLOW project aims to develop algorithms for software tools that will improve healthcare accessibility in the German-Dutch border area.
By optimising healthcare capacities and patient flows, the project seeks to enhance coordination among emergency services, hospitals and care facilities.
The use of AI, IT, operations research and data analytics will enable smart, data-driven decisions for managing resources, crucial in crises and during normal operations.
Healthcare providers will provide direct input for the development of the software solutions, ensuring practical implementation and lessening adoption barriers.
Additionally, a new training model will be introduced to facilitate the integration of these tools into daily operations.
The University of Twente’s role in CARE-FLOW is to support complex planning tasks that require substantial coordination.
Researchers from the cross-faculty Center for Healthcare Operations Improvement & Research (CHOIR) will build algorithms that automate suggestions for capacity adjustments and patient direction based on regional data.
With a total budget of €4.6m ($5.21m), the CARE-FLOW project is part of the Interreg VI-Program Deutschland-Nederland.
