HealthIntelAct

Project Description

Background

HealthIntelAct is an innovative research initiative funded by the prestigious Horizon Europe programme through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions – Doctoral Networks. Its mission is to train the next generation of experts in Actionable Performance Intelligence, equipping decision-makers with the tools and knowledge to build sustainable, inclusive, and impactful health and care systems across Europe and beyond.

Health and care systems face immense challenges—ranging from health inequities and workforce shortages to climate impacts and financial pressures. At the same time, the untapped potential of data and digital technologies could revolutionize how we care for people, protect our planet, and ensure prosperity for all. HealthIntelAct addresses these challenges by turning data into actionable knowledge that empowers healthcare decision-makers—whether they are policymakers, healthcare managers, health insurers, clinicians, or even patients and citizens. By providing the right tools and insights, we help them make informed decisions to improve the performance and sustainability of health and care systems.

At the heart of HealthIntelAct are 17 fellows pursuing PhD trajectories, each working on groundbreaking research projects focused on critical challenges within three key areas: People, Planet, and Prosperity. These interdisciplinary projects, spanning multiple countries and sectors, aim to develop actionable solutions for inclusive, sustainable, and resilient health systems. Through cutting-edge training and hands-on collaboration with leading academics, healthcare organizations, and industry partners, these fellows will become future leaders in transforming health and care systems globally.

Purpose of the project

By training a next generation of professionals that leverage existing data across society to co-create actionable performance intelligence with users, HealthIntelAct aims to empower decision-makers to strengthen health and care systems’ positive impact on people, planet, and prosperity.

Project objectives

• Strengthen the focus on people-centredness, equity, and universality of health systems through an inclusive process of developing and evaluating actionable, people-centred performance intelligence, promoting international comparability, and optimising health information systems.
• Improve sustainable behaviours among organisations, managers, providers, purchasers, and patients to enhance environmental responsibility in the health sector. This includes improving the measurement of environmental footprint and climate resilience in health systems and services.
• Accelerate the social and financial sustainability of health systems by increasing system-wide focus on the well-being, safety, and mental health of the health workforce, and by co-developing actionable performance intelligence to mitigate workforce turnover and reduce the delivery of low-value care.

Phases of the project (Work Packages)

Work package WP1 – People: people-centred, fair and inclusive health and care systems

Objective of WP1 is to strengthen the people-centredness, fairness and inclusiveness of health and care systems through inclusive development and evaluation process of actionable people-centred performance intelligence, fostering I’national comparability & optimizing health information systems.

Work package WP2 – Planet: Environmentally sustainable health and care systems (HCSs)

Objective of WP2 is to enhance environmental responsibility in the health sector, we aim to improve sustainable behaviours among organizations, managers, providers, purchasers, and patients. This involves refining the measurement of environmental footprint and climate resilience in health systems and services. The goal is to implement these measures effectively in mitigation strategies and managerial processes.

Work Package WP3 – Prosperity: Socially and financially sustainable health and care systems (HCSs)

Objective of WP3 is to accelerate the social and financial sustainability of health and care systems by enhancing system’s focus on the wellbeing, safety, and mental health of healthcare workers, particularly nurses and general practitioners, and by co-developing actionable performance intelligence to mitigate workforce turnover and decrease instances of low-value care.

Work package WP4 – Training and career development

This WP is concerned with the smooth and effective delivery of the training of all HealthIntelAct fellows. The WP oversees the delivery of network training events, and quality control of the local training. It ensures that all fellows have personal Career Development Plans (CDPs) in place, which are regularly evaluated. The WP will coordinate and oversee the quality of the secondments.

Work package WP5 – Communication and dissemination

The objective of WP5 is to enable efficient uptake of HealthIntelAct results through effective dissemination and exploitation and to ensure effective communication with stakeholders and the general public about their interests and needs related to the HealthIntelAct project and its results.

Work package WP6 – Management and coordination

The objective of WP6 is to efficiently manage HealthIntelAct so that all other WP objectives can be achieved. It additionally aims to establish efficient internal communication and to communicate with and report to the EC.

Added value

The research focus of the researchers employed at NIJZ has been designed to reflect current research needs for the development of healthcare programmes and policies. More specifically, the first researcher will explore the potential for linking various databases available at NIJZ in order to develop indicators of integrated care. The second researcher will focus on examining the effects of ICT solutions that have recently been implemented in Slovenia and in some other countries, with the aim of identifying both direct and indirect benefits for the population and for healthcare professionals. In addition to generating specific research outputs, NIJZ will strengthen its research competencies and international profile through its involvement in the project, as the research activities will be developed in collaboration with renowned international institutions and within a team of experienced international researchers.

Expected results and materials

The actionable performance intelligence developed during the project has large potential to lead to improved health equity and access to care, improved worker satisfaction, and reduced financial and environmental waste in health and care systems. After HealthIntelAct, our fellows will be well positioned to pursue careers in academia (health services research, data science), government (health policy), healthcare (quality assurance), and commercial business (IT, data analysis).

Duration of the project: from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2028

Leading organization: Amsterdam UMC, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, Netherlands

Project partners:

• STICHTING AMSTERDAM UMC (Amsterdam UMC), Amsterdam, Netherlands,
• OPTIMEDIS AG (OPTI), Hamburg, Germany,
• REGION NORDJYLLAND (NORTH DENMARK REGION) (AAUH), Aalborg, Denmark,
• UNIVERSITATEA DE MEDICINA SI FARMACIE CAROL DAVILA DIN BUCURESTI (UMFCD), Bucuresti, Romania
• SCUOLA SUPERIORE DI STUDI UNIVERSITARI E DI PERFEZIONAMENTO S ANNA (SSSA), Pisa, Italy
• MINISTERE DE LA SANTE ET DE LA SECURITE SOCIALE (MOHLUX), Luxembourg, Luxembourg
• NACIONALNI INSTITUT ZA JAVNO ZDRAVJE (NIJZ), Ljubljana, Slovenia

More about project team: https://healthintelact.eu/meat-the-team/

Funding: Funded by the European Union, under HORIZON EUROPE, Marie Skłodowska-Curie – Doctoral Networks, Grant Agreement Number. 101168576.

Disclaimer

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

HealthIntelAct Consortium Meeting in Aalborg, Denmark, 5–9 October 2026: