REHEAL aims to enable healthcare systems to transition from single-use medical devices to economically viable, circular supply and management systems that reduce waste and resource use, while ensuring regulatory compliance, patient safety and cost efficiency.

Suppliers will be invited to develop innovative digital solutions and service models that enable reliable lifecycle traceability, operational management, and evaluation of medical devices consistent with the objectives of the circular economy, across healthcare systems. The solutions support the management of medical devices throughout their lifecycle, including design, procurement, operational use, remanufacturing, and end-of- life recovery.

Component 1: Lifecycle Traceability, Verification and Data Infrastructure provides the foundational layer by ensuring reliable, interoperable and compliant lifecycle data. It establishes trust in the data through unique identification, traceability, chain-of-custody and process verification. Without this trusted data backbone, higher-level functionalities such as optimisation and decision-making would lack credibility and regulatory robustness. In essence, Component 1 answers the question: “Can we trust and verify what happened to the device throughout its lifecycle?”

Component 2: Operational Management and End-of-Life/Recovery translates lifecycle data into actionable operational insights. It enables healthcare providers to manage devices efficiently across their lifecycle, including inventory, status tracking, lifecycle monitoring and recovery processes. While Component 1 focuses on trust and verification, Component 2 addresses: “How should we manage and optimise the device in practice?”

Component 3: Procurement Decision Support and Business Case Evaluation further elevates the use of data by enabling evidence-based decision-making. It integrates lifecycle, operational and cost data to support comparisons between single-use, reusable and remanufactured devices, allowing healthcare organisations to assess economic, environmental and regulatory trade-offs. This Component answers the question: “What is the best option to procure and invest in, based on total value and impact?”

Component 4: System-Level Intelligence and Demand Modelling extends the perspective beyond individual organisations to the system level. It aggregates data and insights to model demand, assess infrastructure capacity and evaluate the scalability of circular solutions across regions and countries. This component addresses: “How can circular solutions be scaled and optimised across the wider healthcare system?”