Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Ditto and Ambyon were named winners of the National Healthcare Innovation Award during Zorg & ict. Ditto developed an app that helps patients better understand their medical consultations. The regional winner from the province of Zuid-Holland received the professional jury prize of €10,000, while Ambyon’s logistics care robot won the audience award of €5,000 with the most votes.
The awards were presented by Jet Bussemaker, chair of the Raad voor Volksgezondheid en Samenleving.
Ditto was named winner of the Zuid-Holland regional preliminary round at the end of last year. In previous years as well, the Zuid-Holland finalist went on to win either the national jury or audience prize: Juvoly (2024), Momo Medical (2023), and Wolk Heupairbag (2020).
Jury Prize for Ditto: more control over medical information
The professional jury awarded the prize to Ditto for its direct contribution to improving patients’ understanding and adherence to care, as well as preventing unnecessary repetition for healthcare providers. Ditto addresses a common issue: after a consultation, patients often remember only a fraction of the information discussed. With Ditto’s app, patients can easily record their conversation with a healthcare provider using their own phone, regardless of their care institution. The consultation is then converted within minutes into a clear summary using Dutch AI. The app rewrites the conversation at the appropriate language level and can translate it into other languages if desired. The summary can then be securely shared with relatives, without centralized data storage.
The jury consisted of Jan Willem Spijkman (ING), Iris van Bemmel (FME), Arianne van Lavieren (Zilveren Kruis), Sophie Brühl (Buurtdokters), and Gabriel Costa (J58). Jury chair Spijkman called the innovation compelling:
"Ditto addresses a fundamental bottleneck in healthcare. The solution is accessible, scalable, and has a clear societal impact by supporting both patients and healthcare providers. Its strong patient value, ease of use, and clear vision on privacy and European positioning make it a convincing winner.”
Tobias Polak, one of Ditto’s founders, responded: “This award feels like recognition for a true team effort. While others initially had doubts, we always focused on one thing: the patient comes first. By building based on what patients need and want, we’ve been able to create something that truly works and is scalable. The 80,000 downloads in just six months show that. But ultimately, it’s the feedback from patients that motivates us the most, what keeps you going, even when things get tough.”
Audience Award for Ambyon: smart logistics in healthcare
The audience award of €5,000 went to Ambyon for their logistics care robot, Ambyon ONE. This robot supports healthcare professionals in carrying out logistical tasks such as transporting medication, food, medical equipment, and lab samples. By taking over these tasks, more time becomes available for direct patient care. This leads to higher quality of care, greater job satisfaction, and more efficient use of staff. At the same time, deploying the robot helps reduce pressure on the healthcare sector, where staff shortages are an increasing challenge.
Founder Willem-Jan Lamers responded with gratitude: “We feel extremely honored by this recognition from the public and everyone who voted for us. In the coming period, we will continue building and further developing together with new hospitals, and we look forward to collaborating with even more partners.”
Read the full news article on Zorginnovatie.nl (in Dutch).
About the National Healthcare Innovation Award
Successfully scaling healthcare innovations into everyday practice is a challenge for many healthcare entrepreneurs. To support them, Zorginnovatie.nl will present the Nationale Zorginnovatieprijs for the eleventh time in 2026, recognizing the most innovative healthcare solution in the scaling phase. Participants have a chance to win the professional jury prize worth €10,000 and the audience award worth €5,000. In addition, they receive guidance in the further development and scaling of their innovation. The National Healthcare Innovation Award is sponsored by ING.
