Leading European Hospitals Partner with PIPRA AG to Deploy AI-Powered Tool for Predicting Postoperative Delirium Risk
Leading European Hospitals Partner with PIPRA to Combat Delirium Using AI-Powered Risk Prediction Solution.
Zurich, Switzerland – October 3rd 2025 – In a major step toward transforming surgical care for older adults, four leading European hospitals have joined forces with Swiss digital health company PIPRA to pilot its innovative AI-based solution for predicting postoperative delirium (POD). The collaboration, part of a flagship EIT Health Innovation to Market (ITM) program, aims to establish best practices in perioperative care by reducing the incidence of POD, a complication that affects up to 50% of patients over 65.
PIPRA’s CE-certified software is the first and only commercially available solution in Europe capable of accurately predicting an individual’s POD risk using routinely available clinical data before surgery. The initiative not only integrates PIPRA’s tool into real-world hospital workflows but also embeds the PIPRA delirium management programmes, including staff training, standardized screening and multicomponent prevention strategies.
The pilot sites - LMU Klinikum in Munich, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol in Barcelona, Hospital Universitario de Getafe, and Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre in Madrid - will serve as national reference centers for the PIPRA delirium management program. Together, they will reach more than 150,000 older surgical patients during the project. The partnership is expected to demonstrate reductions in delirium incidence, hospital length of stay, and nursing workload.
The programme builds on strong scientific evidence: PIPRA’s tool has been validated in multiple international studies (Dodsworth et al., Age and Ageing 2023; Gunther et al., J Psychosom Res 2025) and has demonstrated reductions in POD incidence and hospital length of stay in Swiss hospital settings (Dodsworth et al., Age and Ageing 2024). The new implementation will generate further real-world data from Germany and Spain, supporting broader European deployment. In parallel, health economists will evaluate the cost-effectiveness and system-wide impact of the programme. These results will feed into PIPRA’s Value Dossier, a comprehensive package designed to support future discussions with public health authorities and hospital buyers across Europe.
“Postoperative delirium is not just a medical issue: it's a public health and economic challenge hiding in plain sight,” said Dr. Nayeli Schmutz, co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of PIPRA. “We’re proud to support hospitals in Germany and Spain with our solution and know-how to address this challenge head-on.”
The pilot sites - LMU Klinikum in Munich, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol in Barcelona, Hospital Universitario de Getafe, and Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre in Madrid - will serve as national reference centers for the PIPRA delirium management program. Together, they will reach more than 150,000 older surgical patients during the project. The partnership is expected to demonstrate reductions in delirium incidence, hospital length of stay, and nursing workload.
“We see enormous potential in this technology to not only improve outcomes for our elderly patients but also to make our workflows more efficient,” said Dr. Thomas Saller, project lead at LMU Klinikum. “It’s a win-win for patients and hospital staff alike.”
The programme builds on strong scientific evidence: PIPRA’s tool has been validated in multiple international studies (Dodsworth et al., Age and Ageing 2023; Gunther et al., J Psychosom Res 2025) and has demonstrated reductions in POD incidence and hospital length of stay in Swiss hospital settings (Dodsworth et al., Age and Ageing 2024). The new implementation will generate further real-world data from Germany and Spain, supporting broader European deployment. In parallel, health economists will evaluate the cost-effectiveness and system-wide impact of the programme. These results will feed into PIPRA’s Value Dossier, a comprehensive package designed to support future discussions with public health authorities and hospital buyers across Europe.
Beyond clinical impact, the project addresses broader societal goals. Preventing delirium will not only reduce functional decline and long-term care admissions but also shorten hospital stays, easing pressure on staff and lowering the environmental footprint of healthcare through reduced CO₂ emissions. The initiative directly contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 3 : Good Health & Well-Being) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities).
The pilot is not a traditional clinical trial, but a real-world implementation program focused on scalable integration, regulatory readiness, and market adoption. It’s a model PIPRA plans to replicate across additional EU markets in the coming years.
“Digital health solutions often fall short when it comes to clinical integration — not PIPRA,” said Ignacio Peinado Martinez, project manager in Getafe. “The team’s focus on usability, transparency, and patient impact is why we’re excited to be part of this journey.”
The pilot is not a traditional clinical trial, but a real-world implementation program focused on scalable integration, regulatory readiness, and market adoption. It’s a model PIPRA plans to replicate across additional EU markets in the coming years.
An opportunity for System-Wide transformation
The scientific literature shows that the economic burden of POD in Europe is estimated at €182 billion annually, with per-patient costs reaching €25,000. With a market potential of over €7.5 billion, PIPRA is uniquely positioned to support the prevention of POD across Europe and beyond.
“Implementing PIPRA into four major hospitals in differing geographies will further demonstrate that AI in healthcare can be clinically meaningful, economically viable, and ethically sound,” said John Klepper, CEO and co-founder of PIPRA AG. “Our goal is to empower hospitals with data-driven tools that deliver better care for seniors; starting now.”
About PIPRA AG
Founded in Zurich, PIPRA AG is a Swiss digital health startup focused on preventing, predicting, and managing delirium in older adults. Its flagship product, the PIPRA delirium management program, combines a CE-certified risk prediction tool with tailored prevention workflows. The company has already partnered with several leading hospitals in Switzerland and is actively expanding across Europe. Learn more at www.pipra.ch.
About EIT Health
EIT Health is a network of best-in-class health innovators with approximately 100 members and is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union. We collaborate across borders to deliver new solutions that can enable European citizens to live longer, healthier lives.
As Europeans tackle the challenge of increasing chronic diseases and multi-morbidity and seek to realise the opportunities that technology offers to move beyond conventional approaches to treatment, prevention and healthy lifestyles, we need thought leaders, innovators and efficient ways to bring innovative healthcare solutions to market.
Our commitment to driving healthcare advancement is evident in our proactive role in mentorship, funding, and research facilitation. Recognised as a pivotal player in healthcare innovation, EIT Health's record of accomplishment includes catalysing over 2,500 start-ups and scale-ups, helping EIT Health-supported start-ups attract €1.9 billion in investment, propelling 113 healthcare solutions to the market, and training 49,000 students and professionals.
EIT Health addresses these needs. We connect all relevant healthcare players across European borders – making sure to include all sides of the “knowledge triangle”, so that innovation can happen at the intersection of research, education and business for the benefit of citizens.
EIT Health: Together for healthy lives in Europe. For more information visit: www.eithealth.eu.
