The Region of Southern Denmark Celebrated the Power of Innovation

Around 130 participants from the Region of Southern Denmark with experience and a special interest in healthcare innovation gathered for the region’s first Innovation Day. 

They came from all corners of the region and represented patient and relative councils, hospitals, psychiatry, and relevant forums and staff functions in the region.

The focus of the Innovation Day was:

• To share knowledge and experiences with innovation
• To showcase solutions in operations where innovation is already used to solve concrete healthcare challenges
• To inspire and strengthen innovation and development efforts in the Region of Southern Denmark. 

National Center for Health Innovation to Be Located in Odense

A few days before the Innovation Day, a press release announced that the new National Center for Health Innovation will be located in Odense. The centre will become part of the region’s strong ecosystem for health innovation, including the Health Innovation Centre of Southern Denmark and the clinic and research facilities at OUH Odense University Hospital – Svendborg Hospital and the University of Southern Denmark.

Thus, the mood was high.

Anja Lund, Chair of the Digitalisation and Innovation Committee, and Kurt Espersen, Executive Director and Chair of the Innovation Steering Committee, emphasized in their joint welcome that the day is a celebration, paying tribute to the innovation work that has already resulted in solutions in operation at the hospitals or has shown potential for doing so. 

They also looked ahead, focusing on how the Region of Southern Denmark continues its work in matching the challenges of the healthcare system with innovative solutions across all parties.

Projects Nominated for the Innovation Award

Based on 26 nominated innovation projects, the Innovation Steering Group and the Regional Innovation Group in the Region of Southern Denmark selected the three nominees for the Innovation Award:

• The Mobile Parcel Locker, OUH Odense University Hospital – Svendborg Hospital, Cardiac Department and H.C. Andersen Children’s and Youth Hospital, OUH, combines a parcel locker and a mobile robot so that patients, regardless of opening hours, can receive or deliver equipment via SMS. Additionally, a mobile autonomous robot retrieves and transports the parcel locker around the hospital for the benefit of the healthcare staff.
• Self-Testing Station for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea, OUH, Dermatology Department and Allergy Centre. Developed with inspiration from the Covid-19 pod station and tailored to its purpose through a user-involvement process, the solution features new software technology that enables data access through EPJ Syd. It also includes new informational materials and videos for patients.
• Digital Welcome and QR Codes via TV Screens, located at the Joint Emergency Department, Hospital of Southern Jutland, this solution ensures that patients have access to easily understandable and visual real-time information.

Each project manager presented their project with an individual video pitch .

And the Winner of the Innovation Award is

The winner of the Southern Denmark Innovation Award 2025 is

• Self-Testing Station for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea from the Dermatology Department I and the Allergy Centre at OUH Odense University Hospital – Svendborg Hospital, represented by Nadia Trier Munk, Clinical Nursing Specialist, and Bettina Trettin, Acting Head Nurse, post.doc, and Ph.D.

Anja Lund explained the choice of the winner by noting that the solution:

• Is an innovative further development of the pod stations from the COVID-19 pandemic
• Frees up staff resources, contributes to increased testing capacity and higher patient attendance, and helps to reduce the spread of infection
• Meets the needs and wishes of its primarily young target audience in terms of an easy, flexible, and anonymous testing method
• Has been developed in collaboration with internal and external partners and has great potential for scaling.

Anja Lund conducted the award ceremony.

Projects Nominated for the Audience Award

Just as with the Innovation Award, the Innovation Steering Group and the Regional Innovation Group in the Region of Southern Denmark, based on 11 nominated innovation projects, selected 3 nominees for the Audience Award:

• AI Record Keeping via Video, Psychiatry in the Region of Southern Denmark, Center for Digital Psychiatry. The project will explore the potential of AI technology to save time on medical record-keeping and will assess the quality of the documentation
• PEACE – Preventing Cervical Cancer, OUH, Gynaecological and Obstetrical Department. The project aims to improve the diagnosis of precursors (cell changes) to cervical cancer using artificial intelligence. A set-up has been developed that integrates a screen and a camera with the existing colposcopes, thereby digitalizing analogue equipment without major investments. The algorithm has also been developed and demonstrates very high reliability
• Your Digital Epilepsy Clinic, OUH, Neurology Department. With this solution, patients at the Epilepsy Clinic can contact the clinic outside normal hours using the region's ePRO-SYD system. Patients access the service by downloading the My Hospital app, where they answer a series of need-assessment questions and then receive responses and follow-up from the clinic’s medical secretaries, including booking appointments and requisitioning blood tests.

Each project leader also presented their project in a video pitch.

And the winner of the Audience Award is 

The winner of the Audience Award was:

• PEACE – Preventing Cervical Cancer by Lone Kjeld Petersen, professor and research leader at OUH, Gynaecological and Obstetrical Department, which aims to improve the diagnosis of precursors to cervical cancer using AI.

The winner was determined by a vote among the audience from the three nominated projects. Both the Innovation Steering Group and the audience agreed that PEACE:

• Is innovative and has the potential to add patient value by improving the diagnosis of precursors to cervical cancer using AI
• Supports more accurate diagnostics and provides a higher level of patient-perceived quality due to the need for fewer biopsies and faster response times
• Reduces women's physical discomfort during cervical cancer screening
• Addresses the need for greater focus on women’s health issues
• Is developed in broad collaboration and has great potential for scaling.

Kurt Espersen conducted the award ceremony.

Sharing and Disseminating Knowledge and Learning about Innovation Work

As part of the Southern Denmark Innovation Day, we were inspired by the presentation "Innovation and Partnership" by Christian Sauvr from Hospital Lillebælt and the presentation "Combining Robotics Technology and AI for Bronchoscopy" by Thiusius Rajeeth Savarimuthu from the Maersk McKinney Møller Institute, SDU Robotics.

Christian Sauvr spoke about Hospital Lillebælt’s journey toward integrating innovation with partnerships – a journey in which the core task of patient care is enhanced by a social responsibility, with the hospital making itself available in contexts that are also set by others. 

According to Carsten Sauvr, this is done because good innovative solutions require the involvement of additional partners. 

Carsten Sauvr also mentioned that modern innovation demands a fairly extensive (internal) organization – partly because clinicians need assistance in developing ideas for solutions and subsequently implementing these solutions in operations.

Thiusius Rajeeth Savarimuthu, in his presentation, discussed research that combines robotics technology and AI for bronchoscopy. 

An important point he made was that innovation and passion should go hand in hand, and that the development of solutions between the healthcare sector and research should be seen as a joint endeavor, where continuous testing and trialing are encouraged.

Closing Remarks

Anja Lund, Chair of the Digitalisation and Innovation Committee, concluded the first Southern Denmark Innovation Day on behalf of the region’s Digitalisation and Innovation Committee and Innovation Steering Group by:

- Thanking everyone for an enriching day that helped to spotlight the exciting innovation initiatives and projects taking place across the region’s hospitals.

Furthermore, Anja Lund stated that the day demonstrates:

- That here in the region, we have a culture of innovation where we strengthen our connections by sharing knowledge and experiences across the board. This innovation culture provides a solid foundation for the work to come when a National Center for Health Innovation is established here in Odense in the near future.

Overall, according to Anja Lund, the Innovation Day shows that the innovation work in the region is thriving—with an innovative drive and form that spans widely and varies in both size and approach.
See you at Southern Denmark Innovation Day 2026!

FACTS

Nominated Projects

A total of 37 projects were nominated for the Innovation Award and the Audience Award.

Innovation Award

Awarded to solutions or processes that are already implemented and create value in the everyday lives of patients, relatives or healthcare professionals, and selected by the Innovation Steering Group. The award comes with a prize of 10,000 kr., which the department can use to continue strengthening the culture of innovation.

Audience Award

Awarded to initiatives that are not necessarily implemented yet but have great potential. The award comes with a prize of 5,000 kr., which the department can use to continue strengthening the culture of innovation.

Initiatives under the Region’s Innovation Strategy
The Southern Denmark Innovation Day is part of a range of initiatives under the region’s innovation strategy, such as:

Competence Development Programmes

for regional employees: Group 1 started on 4 March 2025. Group 2 is now open for applications and will commence on 26 August 2025.

Innovation Fund

Here you can apply for funding of up to 1,000,000 kr. for larger innovation projects – the deadline is June 2. 2025 – and there is also an ongoing opportunity to apply for between 50,000-75,000 kr. for smaller innovation projects.