- This international collaborative initiative aims to demonstrate how innovative public procurement methods can improve the efficiency, quality and sustainability of health care
- Parc Taulí, together with the Health Quality and Assessment Agency of Catalonia (AQuAS), has worked on a purchase that has made it possible to speed up the personalized surgical process in orthopedic surgery and traumatology procedures
The Parc Taulí has successfully consolidated the EcoQUIP Plus project, an international collaborative initiative whose mission is to demonstrate how innovative public procurement methods can improve the efficiency, quality and sustainability of health care. Through the 3D Laboratory of the Parc Taulí Research and Innovation Institute (I3PT), it has worked together with the Health Quality and Assessment Agency of Catalonia (AQuAS) in the public purchase of services and equipment that have allowed streamline the personalized surgical process in orthopedic surgery and traumatology procedures.
Arthroplasty is a surgical procedure in which parts of a damaged joint are removed and replaced with a metal, plastic or ceramic prosthesis from a healthy joint. More than three million joint replacements were performed in Europe in 2019 and, as the population ages, the number of interventions is expected to increase each year. However, joint replacement is a complex operation and one of the most important determining factors for success is the fit of the implant to the body and its adaptation to the specific characteristics of each patient such as sex, height, weight and age.
This one solution consisted of a set of computer tools and programs for design, planning and 3D printing not applied so far a healthcare, which work in a coordinated manner to streamline and improve the quality of surgical processess. Specifically, the solution incorporates: 3D printers that expand the productive capacity of the I3PT and reduce the times in the design phase; 3D scanning tools for preoperative precision measurement in a non-invasive way that allow the evaluation of the whole body to optimize personalized biomechanics, thus replacing in some cases the CT scan; and software to monitor and track the manufacturing and surgical processes from start to finish, guaranteeing the quality necessary to produce a customized biomechanical prosthesis.
Virtual surgical planning for hip (top photo) and shoulder (bottom photo) arthroplasty
Months after its implementation, the project has exceeded all expectations. Not only can custom joint prostheses be made, but the solution can be applied to most orthopedic surgeries and even other types of non-orthopedic surgery.
Patient outcomes have improved, the effectiveness and efficiency of the surgical process has increased, and the hospital can take on more cases, from more varied specialties, offering greater quality and sustainability", points out Toni Nadal, coordinator of the 3D Laboratory.
EcoQUIP Plus is the first step in a broader strategy to establish a patient-centered health policy for all citizens of Catalonia, and a value-based innovation adoption policy. The project, launched across Europe in mid-2020, builds on the success of its predecessor, EcoQUIP, and other related projects on public procurement for innovation (CPI). Five hospitals from different European countries have participated, with diverse health care models and contracting situations that are representative of the European context. Each of the hospitals has led a specific challenge that needed an innovative solution.
Co-funded by the COSME program of the European Union
The content of this document represents the views of the authors and the EcoQUIP Plus Consortium only and is their sole responsibility, it cannot be considered to reflect the views of the European Commissions and/or the European Innovation Council and SM Es Executive Agency (EISMEA) or any other body of the European Union. The European Commission and the Agency do not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.
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