Innovation with a user focus: TechNurse builds new bridges between nursing, clinics and industry

The idea for TechNurse came from personal experience. Founder Jonas Becker Bilić knows both the nursing practice and the technical perspective. "I originally come from a nursing background and later studied biomedical engineering. During my bachelor's thesis, I had to organize a usability test for a sterile concept and quickly realized how difficult it is to systematically involve nursing staff," he reports. Although there was a great deal of interest in collaborating, organizational and legal hurdles made cooperation difficult.

One decisive point was the structure of cooperation between industry and specialist staff. Although many nursing staff and doctors are interested in contributing their knowledge, they are faced with bureaucratic requirements such as concluding contracts or invoicing. "When it became clear that specialists would have to act independently in order to work together, many of them dropped out," explains Becker Bilić. Together with a small team, Becker Bilić then developed the TechNurse concept. The aim of the company is to bring manufacturers of medical devices together with users and thus enable practical product development. TechNurse does not see itself as a traditional consulting platform, but rather as a mediation and matching solution.

A key unique selling point of TechNurse is the development of a legal framework for collaboration. "Our USP is the legal framework. We take responsibility for tax and legal aspects and even hire specialists for individual projects on a short-term basis so that they are fully covered," explains Becker Bilić. This allows users to participate in projects in an uncomplicated way, while companies work with professionally organized structures at the same time.

The platform offers various formats for collaboration, including surveys, interviews and practical tests. TechNurse attaches great importance to ensuring that participants remain anchored in their everyday working lives. "Our ideal workload is around one project per quarter. This ensures that the participants remain representative," says Becker Bilić. At the same time, it guarantees that work at the main employer is not affected.

The collaboration also offers advantages for healthcare facilities. For example, TechNurse supports the organization of usability tests in hospitals and takes on administrative and legal tasks. "We take care of compliance, insurance and payment structures. This creates real added value for the facilities with minimal effort," explains Becker Bilić.

In addition to supporting individual projects, TechNurse is pursuing a long-term vision. In future, the company would like to create platform structures that enable a direct exchange about medical products. "It would be enormously valuable if users could share their experiences of products before large investments are made," says Becker Bilić. In everyday clinical practice in particular, it is often the case that products are technically impressive but cannot be optimally integrated into existing work processes.

The response to the platform has been positive so far. According to TechNurse, all matching processes have been successfully implemented so far. The service has met with great interest, particularly in the non-medical sector and among medical specialists. "We have noticed that many specialists are seeing the opportunity to contribute their experience and be heard for the first time," reports Becker Bilić. In addition to fair remuneration, the influence on product developments is a particularly important motivating factor.

In the long term, the start-up sees its task as changing communication structures in the healthcare sector in the long term. "I want to design the channels between practice and industry in such a way that real win-win situations are created," says Becker Bilić, describing the vision behind TechNurse. Currently, many exchange formats are strongly influenced by industrial interests. TechNurse wants to open up new paths here and focus more on the user's perspective.

Another focus is on creating transparency within the medical technology sector. By networking different stakeholder groups, companies should be able to find suitable expertise more quickly and make more informed decisions. At the same time, TechNurse aims to build a representative network that reflects the diversity of practical applications.

With its innovative approach, TechNurse brings new impetus to the Bayern Innovativ partner network. The network supports companies in initiating collaborations, sharing knowledge and driving innovation. By combining practical knowledge, technological development and new cooperation models, TechNurse complements the network in a special way and helps to further strengthen the exchange between industry, research and care.

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