Verein zur Förderung der Digitalisierung im Gesundheitswesen e.V.

What Verein zur Förderung der Digitalisierung im Gesundheitswesen e.V. does

Verein zur Förderung der Digitalisierung im Gesundheitswesen e.V., operating as DIG-in-HEALTH, is a German eingetragener Verein (registered association) founded in December 2020 to promote digitization processes in the healthcare sector. The association is registered in Cologne and operates its business office from Duisburg, with a wholly-owned scientific institute, ILUG (Institut der innovativen Lösungen für unsere Gesundheit), located in Eynatten, Belgium. It serves an interdisciplinary membership of patients, healthcare providers, researchers, policymakers, startups, and industry partners, organized around five working groups covering Ecosystems, Health Data, Technologies, Capabilities, and Europe, plus additional topic areas such as AI, digital health training, and future hospitals. The association is governed by a 10-member board plus a two-member Senate and has roughly six staff as listed in firmographics.

The organization does not sell software products, run an API, or generate SaaS revenue. Its offerings consist of membership access, working group participation, public events and webinars, and policy outputs in the form of position papers on AI and interoperability. Its underlying technology stack is correspondingly modest: a WordPress website on dig-in-health.eu using Elementor, Microsoft Teams for member collaboration, and standard third-party integrations (Google Analytics, Google Fonts, YouTube, LinkedIn). It participates in external data and infrastructure initiatives such as sphin-X (under BDI leadership) and engages with EU bodies on the European Health Data Space.

The revenue model is non-commercial: the association is classified as gemeinnützig (charitable) and is funded through membership fees, with no publicly disclosed fee schedule. Distribution and go-to-market are community-led, relying on the website, LinkedIn, events, and word-of-mouth through expert networks to recruit members. Strategic significance is delivered through policy influence and convening power rather than commercial scale.

Name

Verein zur Förderung der Digitalisierung im Gesundheitswesen e.V.

Legal name

Verein zur Förderung der Digitalisierung im Gesundheitswesen e.V.

Website

https://dig-in-health.eu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

DIG-in-HEALTH is a German registered nonprofit association founded in 2020 that convenes patients, providers, researchers, policymakers, and industry through five working groups to advance digitalization in healthcare, supported by its scientific institute ILUG in Belgium.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Digitalization Advocacy

NAICS

Social Assistance (624)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Health Access & Social Care Innovations (Community Health, Telehealth for Underserved) (BPAGALAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Digital Health, Health Information Systems & Data Programs (BPADAIAJ), Data, Surveillance & Digital Public Goods Partnerships for Global Health (HLAJAOAN), Patient Advocacy, Navigation & Access to Care (BPAGACAH)

Keywords

• Healthcare digitization advocacy
• Digital health networking
• Health interoperability policy
• Cross-border health data
• Medical AI governance

Headquarters

HQ city

Duisburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership fees: DIG-in-HEALTH is a nonprofit association (eingetragener Verein, e.V.) pursuing exclusively charitable purposes (gemeinnützige Zwecke). Revenue is generated through membership fees paid by individual and organizational members. No product-based revenue streams are described.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

DIG-in-HEALTH is a nonprofit association that advances digitalization in the German healthcare system by convening an interdisciplinary network of patients, providers, researchers, startups, and policymakers. It operates five topical working groups (Ecosystems, Health Data, Technologies, Capabilities, Europe), publishes position papers on AI and interoperability, and runs the ILUG scientific institute in Belgium to support cross-border digital health research and projects.

Product overview

Verein zur Förderung der Digitalisierung im Gesundheitswesen e.V. (DIG-in-HEALTH) is a non-profit association founded in December 2020, not a commercial product company. The organization operates as an advocacy and networking body focused on promoting digitalization in healthcare. It offers membership in an interdisciplinary network, facilitates working groups on topics including AI, interoperability, ecosystems, health data, capabilities, and Europe, organizes public events and conferences, publishes position papers on AI and interoperability, maintains an expert network, and has established the ILUG (Institut für innovative Lösungen für unsere Gesundheit) as its scientific institute in Eynatten, Belgium. No commercial software products, SaaS platforms, or technology products are offered.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Membership in the Digitalization in Healthcare Association Membership program granting individuals and organizations access to an interdisciplinary digital health network, including working groups on Ecosystems, Health Data, Technologies, Capabilities, and Europe, plus events, position papers, and the expert network.
• Position Paper on Interoperability Formal policy document offering DIG-in-HEALTH's recommendations on interoperability standards and practices in the German healthcare system, produced for policymakers and stakeholders.
• Position Paper on Artificial Intelligence Formal policy document providing the association's recommendations on AI governance and adoption in healthcare, produced for policymakers, regulators, and stakeholders.
• ILUG Scientific Institute Services Cross-border research and project development services for digital health, supporting scientific developments and innovation aligned with the European Health Data Space.
• Working Group Program (Five Working Groups) Structured member engagement platform consisting of five thematic working groups covering Ecosystems, Health Data, Technologies, Capabilities, and Europe, with regular meetings open to members, experts, and affected stakeholders.

Quantifiable outcome

• Membership doubled over the association's operating period
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Patienten Stiftung Aktion Niere (Patients Foundation Action Kidney)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 September 2025A cooperation agreement was signed on September 20, 2025, at the annual meeting of the Patienten Stiftung in Mainz. The agreement focuses on exchanging digital services for kidney disease patients, including better data collection and evaluation in the context of a living donor register. DIG-in-HEALTH President Ernst Martin Walsken and CEO Dr. Lutz Groh signed on behalf of the association; Peter Gilmer (Chairman) and Stefan Mroncz (Deputy) signed for the foundation.
• sphinx-X Initiative (Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie)coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 November 2024DIG-in-HEALTH joined the sphin-X initiative in November 2024, a data space initiative led by the German Industry Association (BDI) with 30 partner organizations and companies. The association contributes the patient perspective to the initiative. DIG-in-HEALTH was involved in the founding preparations. Board member Lutz Groh and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Galina Ivanova participated in the one-year anniversary event in Berlin in November 2025.
• ScanBaltcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022DIG-in-HEALTH has partnered with ScanBalt, the largest European network in Life Science, supporting the ScanBalt Declaration on the European Health Data Space. Jaanus Pikani from ScanBalt presented on Scandinavian health data exchange at a 2022 ILUG workshop. The collaboration focuses on European cross-border health data communication and the EHDS.
• Netzwerk Deutsche GesundheitsRegionen e.V. (Network of German Health Regions)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA joint video event on cross-border healthcare in the EU was held on September 5, 2025, co-organized with this network. Professor Dr. Josef Hilbert (CEO of the network) and Dr. Lutz Groh (CEO of DIG-in-HEALTH) opened the event. The network represents German health regions and collaborates on innovative care models and cross-border health solutions.
• Deutsche Gesellschaft für Integrierte Versorgung (DGfIV)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAn agreement was signed to mutually recognize memberships and allow reciprocal participation. This partnership facilitates cross-organizational knowledge exchange in integrated care.
• Robert Koch-Institut (RKI) / Zentrum für KI in der Public Health-Forschung (ZKI-PH)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Katharina Ladewig, head of the ZKI-PH center at RKI, presented the center's AI research in public health at a DIG-in-HEALTH event on March 14, 2025. The center employs 55 scientists (approximately half of them early-career researchers). Topics included virus detection models, heatwave mortality analysis, and mental health factors in adolescents.
• EUREGIO MAAS-RHEINminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerILUG identified the EUREGIO MAAS-RHEIN area (spanning Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands) as a potential test region for cross-border health data exchange, based on the border characteristics and quality of the region. The area was recommended as a pilot for European health data traffic.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• gematik GmbH: gematik is the federally-mandated German agency for digitalizing the healthcare system (including the ePA). DIG-in-HEALTH actively comments on gematik's work but operates as an independent advocacy body, making it an adjacent established incumbent.
• HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society): HIMSS is the largest global health IT membership organization with advocacy, education, and events at scale. While it dwarfs DIG-in-HEALTH in scope, the operating model — member-funded, working groups, policy influence — is structurally similar.

Direct peers

• ScanBalt fmba: ScanBalt is a not-for-profit network promoting cross-border life science and health data exchange in the Baltic Sea Region. DIG-in-HEALTH is a formal ScanBalt partner supporting EHDS-aligned activity — a direct peer in cross-border health-data networking.
• SNOMED International: SNOMED International is a non-profit member-funded organization that develops clinical terminology standards used in health data exchange, which directly intersects DIG-in-HEALTH's health data working group mandate.
• EHTEL (European Health Telematics Association): EHTEL is a European non-profit association that promotes digital health transformation through multi-stakeholder engagement, working groups, and policy advocacy — structurally and functionally analogous to DIG-in-HEALTH but at EU level.
• HL7 International (Health Level Seven): HL7 is a global standards development organization focused on health data interoperability (FHIR, etc.). DIG-in-HEALTH references HL7-aligned standards in its interoperability position papers, making it a community-overlap peer.
• IHE International (Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise): IHE is an international initiative advancing interoperability standards for health IT systems through multi-stakeholder working groups and profiling — directly comparable in the interoperability policy space where DIG-in-HEALTH issues position papers.
• European Patients' Forum (EPF): EPF is the umbrella patients' organization at EU level, advancing patient-centered digital health policy and access. DIG-in-HEALTH similarly centers the patient perspective in its digitalization advocacy.
• bvitg (Bundesverband Gesundheits-IT): bvitg is the leading German health IT industry association, offering membership-driven advocacy, working groups, and policy engagement on interoperability and digitalization — a closely comparable peer in the same national niche.
• TMF (Technologie- und Methodenplattform für die vernetzte medizinische Forschung): TMF is a German non-profit platform supporting cross-organizational digital health research and data governance. DIG-in-HEALTH's ILUG institute operates in a directly adjacent research-data space.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/verein-zur-foerderung-der-digitalisierung-im-gesundheitswesen-e-v

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Verein zur Förderung der Digitalisierung im Gesundheitswesen e.V.