Innovation Day

21 May, 2026 | Copenhagen

Jump into the future of health

Part of Copenhagen’s Innovation Week, HIMSS Innovation Day offers a focused look at where digital health innovation truly delivers impact. Bringing together health system leaders, tech innovators, policymakers, and startups, the day spans big-picture strategy, global learning and hands-on, startup-led solutions tackling real healthcare challenges.

Explore innovation across extremes

Examine how extreme environments drive creative digital health solutions, separate meaningful innovation trends from noise, and explore what it actually takes to move from promising pilots to sustainable practice in complex health systems.

  • Part 1 - Innovation at the Edges

    Health innovation often emerges where it's needed most desperately, and we’ll explore what happens when necessity drives innovation and what mainstream systems can learn from these extreme contexts.

    Go inside Arctic health delivery, where geography, climate, and infrastructure constraints forced a radical rethinking of care models and patient access. Plus, evaluate current market entry barriers and strategies for navigating the increasingly complex landscape facing innovators. And go beyond buzzwords to examine what's genuinely shaping health tech in 2026.

  • Part 2 - Scaling Real-World Innovation

    How can we de-risk innovation adoption and create viable pathways for novel solutions to reach patients faster?

    Moving from promising pilots to sustainable practice in complex health systems remains a barrier most startups struggle to overcome. Find the innovation approaches that accelerate versus hinder adoption, explore the innovation journey from concept to operational reality and learn practical lessons for moving beyond testbed environments. Through real-world examples and strategic discussion, we'll tackle what it takes to scale innovation that sticks.

Learn more about our three stages at HIMSS26 Europe in our programme

Where innovative founders take center stage

An exciting, high-visibility platform for early-stage and emerging health technology companies to shine within the European digital health ecosystem, this showcase is designed to bring innovative startups front and center and connect them with key industry stakeholders, healthcare leaders, investors and potential partners.

For startups, it’s a unique opportunity to gain exposure within a major European health tech forum, receive feedback from industry leaders, and accelerate growth through strategic connections.

  • Explore the future of health

    Explore cutting-edge digital health technologies and get hands-on experience with the latest, most innovative solutions transforming the future of healthcare.

  • Meet founders, meet investors and buyers

    Meet the founders shaping the future, connect with investors backing bold ideas, and engage with buyers ready to make things happen—all in one place.

  • Build meaningful collaborations

    Connect with innovators, clinicians, investors, and industry leaders who are shaping the future of care. Turn shared ideas into real partnerships that drive impact and accelerate progress.

Ready to share your solution? Join the exhibition

Speed problem-solving for real-world digital health challenges

In this problem-solving lab, digital health startups bring one pre-defined, real-world digital health problem. And investors, incubators and hospital leaders bring answers based on lived experience. Matches are designed to surface practical advice, pattern recognition, and concrete next steps, not theory.

5 core problem clusters

The InnovationXChange focuses on recurring problems that blocks digital health startups.

  • Commercialisation & Business Models for Digital Health

    Converting pilots into paid contracts.

  • Buying, Budgeting & Decision Pathways

    Understanding who really decides, pays, or blocks.

  • Adoption and Workflow Integration

    Embedding digital solutions into workflows.

  • Integration, Data Access & Scaling Infrastructure

    Blockers to data access and integration.

  • Evidence, Regulation & Trust-Building

    Uncertainty around proof, compliance, and risk.

Are you a startup that wants to get involved?