Speaker Event Jos Knaapen

Health Innovation Hub Ireland

Meet the Innovation Figure’ of Isala, one of the largest hospitals in the Netherlands

Health Innovation Hub Ireland,

Jos believes in ‘managing’ Innovation, because managing healthcare has brought us in the challenging position where we are in today. If you want to do something completely different, another approach is necessary. In his role he brings the outside world inside and the future a little bit closer. His motto is "anything is possible” (as long as you have enough determination). His main focus is making measurable improvements to patient care while making work more enjoyable for everyone. And the results are numerous: the first medical drone of the Netherlands took off into the air in a meadow near Isala’s hospital in Meppel, Isala won the Dutch Topclinical Innovation Award with a VR-education on recognizing and discussing violence ‘behind closed doors’ and many children are distracted from pain using one of the VR-glasses directed at comfort.
In 2019 Jos took on the role of ‘coordinator innovation’ for the Dutch cooperative alliance ‘mProve’, in which seven topclinical hospitals (~18% of the Dutch patients) are united in their efforts to make Dutch healthcare future proof. In May 2023 he started the mProve FUNxLab, in which ‘functional’ technology (with an emphasis on ‘FUN’) for scarce healthcare personnel is the main focus. As there is a lot of technology ‘out there’, but most innovations lead to better outcomes for patients, but for a higher work load for the nursing staff. The FUNxLab’s ‘modus operandi’ is exchanging knowledge and inspiration, scaling up those interventions with measurable positive effect on productivity and job satisfaction, and the dialogue with the industry, education, health care insurers on new technology, in order to make the collective of the seven hospitals more futureproof.