Comprehensive access landscape map will help entrepreneurs get digital health technologies to patients and healthcare professionals.

 A new guide for digital health innovators launched earlier this week by Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) provides a comprehensive assessment of the English health system, pooling key stakeholder insights and signposting to further information for entrepreneurs to overcome barriers to the adoption of new technologies.

The new, free to download guide features contributions from Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs), experts in digital and data and successful healthcare innovators and aims to optimise innovator opportunities and help them plot a clear pathway for digital health technologies to improve services and reach patients. The Innovator’s Guide aims to help build a sustainable healthcare fit for the future, set out in the government’s Life Science Industrial Strategy.[i]

Guy Boersma, Managing Director of Kent Surrey Sussex Academic Health Science Network said: “The impact of the Coronavirus pandemic highlights the critical role of digital technology in driving the transformation of health and care services – enabling professionals to stay connected with patients, supporting online services and giving people greater control over their own care. This is exactly why AHSNs were established, and working in partnership we are making significant inroads into supporting the spread of transformative technologies: for example over the past six months we have supported the national rollout of electronic repeat dispensing and access to video and online consultations in almost every GP practice. However, the health and care system is complex to navigate and so it is useful for innovators to have the advice, support and signposting they need, so we can match proven solutions to health challenges as quickly as possible. With this in mind we welcome the Guide, the knowledge it shares along with effective approaches and best practice within digital healthcare.”

As public reliance on technologies is at an all-time high due to the need for increased remote healthcare during the pandemic, [i],[ii] the time is now for everyone involved in patient care to work together and overcome barriers to innovation. In December 2019, NHS Digital reported that just 15 per cent of primary care appointments during the month had taken place by phone or online. By April 2020, this increased to 49 per cent. Use of health innovations online has also increased in recent months, with Diabetes UK’s Know Your Risk tool showing a huge 637% increase in usage from end of July to the end of September, compared to the two months previously.[iii]

Supporting digital innovations is a government priority and organisations like DigitalHealth.London have been set up to help increase health entrepreneurs’ confidence in digital. The Digital Pioneer Fellowship, sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim, is championing 37 change makers employed by NHS organisations in London and the South East to design and lead digital transformation projects.

Uday Bose, Boehringer Ingelheim UK General Manager says: “COVID-19 has forced us all to live differently and digital technology has been a key enabler of this. Without doubt it is the greatest driver of accelerating tomorrow’s healthcare improvements. It’s great to see the huge impetus behind digital innovation in the NHS and as a family owned, purpose led and innovation driven company we are committed to helping improve the health of people now and for future generations and digital transformation supports this ambition. The new Innovator’s Guide is a culmination of months of interviews and insight gathering from NHS stakeholders and tech innovators and we hope it will accelerate digital health adoption.”

There are great examples of digital health technologies contributing to greater efficiency, cost-savings and sustainability within the NHS. The report features one of the East Midlands AHSN’s Digital Health Accelerator Alumni, Spirit Digital (page 24). We have worked with Spirit Digital since 2018, when they joined our Accelerator programme to support the further spread and adoption of their innovation CliniTouch Vie – an evidence-based digital health platform used for remote monitoring and patient self-management.

CliniTouch Vie has been an invaluable digital solution during the pandemic, as it helps release hospital beds and increase capacity in specialist community teams managing vulnerable patients from the safety and comfort of their own homes. Spirit Digital saw increased uptake during the pandemic, leading to more efficient working – for example one East Midlands trust commissioned CliniTouch Vie for up to 1,000 patients meaning they were able to on-board their existing community caseloads and accelerate hospital discharges.

Simon Applebaum, Managing Director, Spirit Digital said: “Until March of this year, digital innovation was a consumer expectation that was largely unmet within UK healthcare. Yet, the last few months have changed innovation at a very local level, rapidly. 2020 has become the year when local health and care organisations have used technology to help existing services and pathways work better and more efficiently.

“This represents a once in a generation opportunity for change. Policymakers, clinical leaders, front line staff and life sciences organisations must grasp the digital opportunity; through collaboration and empowerment we can begin business better than usual today.”

Download the Innovator's Guide.

 [i] NHS England. Around one million downloads of fitness app during lockdown as people stay fit. July 2020. Available online at https://www.england.nhs.uk/2020/07/around-one-million-downloads-of-fitness-app-during-lockdown-as-people-stay-fit/ Last accessed October 2020.

[ii] Health Service Journal. Pandemic leads to huge change in patient and GP behaviour. April 2020. Available online at https://www.hsj.co.uk/technology-and-innovation/pandemic-leads-to-huge-change-in-patient-and-gp-behaviour/7027276.article. Last accessed October 2020.

[iii] NHS England. Surge in people checking their risk of type 2 diabetes. Available online at https://www.england.nhs.uk/2020/09/surge-in-people-checking-their-risk-of-type-2-diabetes/. Last accessed October 2020.

[iv] The Tinder Foundation, Health & Digital: Reducing Inequalities, Improving Society, 2016. Value for money was measured using cost and efficiency savings and RoI calculated at 6:1 or £6.40 for every £1 invested by Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICS.

[i] Life sciences: industrial strategy 2017. Available online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/life-sciences-industrial-strategy. Last accessed October 2020.