Sub-project 4 - Coordination and networking (CONNECT)
Sub-project 4 - Coordination and networking (CONNECT)
CONNECT - Coordination and networking for healthcare (in the border region)
The CONNECT sub-project is at the centre of the strategic further development of cross-sectoral healthcare in the northern German-Dutch border region. The aim is to improve the long-term care of vulnerable groups through innovative, personalised concepts and care pathways in the border region. To this end, existing care structures are being analysed, care pathways identified and innovative concepts for intersectoral data integration developed and tested.
Border regions face special challenges: Different care systems, legal frameworks and administrative hurdles make it difficult to access an integrated 360-degree structure in healthcare on both sides of the border. This often leads to a fragmented "180-degree view" for patients. In order to counteract inadequate care for people in border areas, it is crucial to analyse the existing systems, identify interface problems and, in the long term, develop needs-based solutions across borders.
In a first step, existing specific structures in multidisciplinary, regional and local care between hospital and home in the border region will be surveyed with regard to the needs of the three target groups of the INGVER project (geriatric, oncological and high-risk patients). In a second step, care pathways will be determined by means of stakeholder surveys in order to identify challenges, gaps and barriers to healthcare in the border region.
In a third step, prototypical care pathways are examined with regard to their intersectoral data flow, i.e. the use and accessibility of patient data between outpatient, inpatient and home care areas, in order to optimise this data flow and thus the intersectoral networking of care.
The establishment of new data flows and networked care pathways should result in personalised and more efficient treatment approaches. These new concepts for data integration are being tested in close coordination with the clinical and diagnostic partners within the UMO clinics and taking into account the existing structures of the HiGHmed consortium and the data integration centre.
The findings will be incorporated into the further development of cross-border care models, utilising already established structures of the Cross Border Institute of Healthcare Systems and Prevention (CBI) to shed light on care in the border region on the Dutch side as well, to further develop existing concepts on both sides of the border and to jointly identify new approaches.
CURRENTS
Expert panel "Intersectoral care in our border region"
An initial intensive exchange with stakeholders took place as part of the INGVER sub-project CONNECT on Friday, 20 June 2025 in Papenburg. Researchers from University Medicine Oldenburg exchanged views with regional representatives from the healthcare sector on particular challenges in the healthcare of vulnerable patient groups and shared experiences and ideas for improving care in the German-Dutch border region.
The project "Intersectoral healthcare in our border region" is made possible by the Interreg Germany-Netherlands programme and its programme partners and is co-financed by the European Union.