Healthcare industry in the Ruhr Metropole: Potential and perspectives for the development of international cooperation
The Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region is Germany's largest agglomeration area with over 10 million inhabitants. Life and work here are strongly characterized by the healthcare industry. This has continuously developed into a formative leading industry and has been an important business location for the Ruhr region since the mid-2010s. In 2020, more than 1,780,000 socially insured employees were employed in around 6,700 health industry-oriented companies. The lead market of health contributes significantly to a steady increase in employment.
In Germany, Europe and worldwide, further growth is expected in the coming years in the markets for products and services for better health and quality of life. This opens up good future prospects for the healthcare industry in the Ruhr region: It can open up new sales markets worldwide, attract foreign investors to invest in the Ruhr region, and benefit from international cooperation, especially in the area of research and development, as well as in the marketing of innovative products, services, and system solutions. This benefits not only the economy and the labor market, but also the health care of patients.
However, in order for these future prospects to be realized, the healthcare industry in the Ruhr, Emscher and Lippe region must prepare itself for an expansion of international cooperation. On the one hand, the sector-specific companies, facilities and research players themselves are called upon to do this, and on the other hand, the institutions of economic and structural development. In order to point out the necessary preconditions, requirements for action and design possibilities for this, the Ruhr Regional Association (RVR) has commissioned the study "Healthcare Industry in the Ruhr Metropole: Potentials and Perspectives for the Expansion of International Cooperation". The crucial points of this study are:
- The trends and development dynamics in the international health care markets are to be identified and systematized and, based on this, starting points for international cooperation are to be elicited.
- A cooperation model for strengthening the health economy of the Metropole Ruhr is to be identified.
- An overview of the medical excellence in the Ruhr metropolitan region from conducted medical studies is to be elaborated.
- Possibilities for an expansion of internationalization are to be identified and concretized in an implementation-oriented way in exchange with actors from practice. In doing so, best practice scenarios and influences from other top locations of the health care industry are to be learned.
The study is being carried out by the Institute for Work and Technology (IAT) (research focus: health economy & quality of life) in cooperation with the International Health working group of Maastricht University and is supported by Prof. Dr. Josef Hilbert. In addition, an advisory board of experts in the health economy will accompany the study. The results are expected to be available to the client, the Ruhr Regional Association, by the end of 2022/beginning of 2023.
For further information:
Dr. Peter Ente: Enste@iat.eu; +49 209 1707133
Prof. Dr. Josef Hilbert: Hilbert@iat.eu; +49 172 2933673