ROSIA implemented a structured Pre‑Commercial Procurement (PCP) to stimulate innovation and reduce risks for public buyers. Five suppliers developed initial concepts, three created prototypes and two were selected for real‑life testing in Spain, Portugal and Ireland: Fundació Eurecat (Spain) leading the consortium that developed the solution REHABILIFY, and Ethniko Kentro (Greece) leading the consortium that developed the solution RAISE. This process enabled healthcare organisations to compare solutions and steer development according to actual needs.
Both solutions were deployed in clinical settings, enabling professionals to design and monitor personalised plans, communicate securely with patients and integrate several tools from the prescribable catalogue. Patients followed exercises and assessments through mobile applications and maintained regular contact with care teams. Training and helpdesk services supported day‑to‑day use.
Across the three countries, the deployments proved feasible, adaptable to different organisational contexts and acceptable for both patients and professionals. Although not powered to demonstrate clinical outcomes, the pilots were designed to assess feasibility, usability and organisational integration in real‑world operation, and highlighted the conditions required for successful adoption.
Value generated:
- The PCP showed that complex, multi‑actor digital rehabilitation platforms can be deployed in real healthcare environments, integrating diverse technologies within routine workflows.
- The pilots confirmed that success relies on technology but also on organisational readiness. The experience emphasised the importance of digital literacy, support structures, workflow alignment and flexible configuration.
- Suppliers refined their business models and commercial strategies aligned with public procurement. Both moved towards scalable platform‑plus‑ecosystem approaches that support long‑term sustainability and integration of new third‑party tools. Public buyers gained early access to validated systems and practical knowledge for future procurement.
- ROSIA has generated value at both service and system level. It has demonstrated that telerehabilitation can be delivered safely and acceptably in real clinical settings, with benefits for patients, clinicians and healthcare services, while also making explicit the barriers that still need to be addressed for wider uptake. In parallel, ROSIA has established a transferable core composed of an open and interoperable digital infrastructure that enables data sharing and semantic alignment, reduces vendor lock-in, and facilitates the integration of third party solutions and Digital Therapeutics (DTx) into care pathways. By separating this core from disease specific services, the project provides a practical foundation that can be reused in other chronic care scenarios with higher maturity at pilot level, strengthening buyer capability and continuity beyond pilots.
Dissemination activities included participation in conferences, newsletters, videos, social media communication, co‑creation sessions and a policy workshop with European stakeholders. The project also contributed to the 2Care4EU cluster White Paper on challenges and lessons learned from PCPs in healthcare.
