Digital technologies: a new era in healthcare

Our NHS provides world-class care to millions of people every year. But, due to funding cuts and the challenges of providing care to an ageing population with complex health needs, this vital service is unsurprisingly under strain.  At the same time, with the mobile-internet at our fingertips, we have become accustomed to quick, on-demand services. Whether it’s browsing the internet, staying connected on social media or using mobile banking, our smartphones play important roles in nearly every aspect of our lives. It is therefore not surprising to find that over 70% of the UK population are now going online for their healthcare information.

This raises a question: could digital health (in particular mobile health apps) play a role in bolstering our faltering health service?

Unfortunately, to date, healthcare has been lagging behind other services in the digital revolution. When most other sectors grabbed onto the digital train, healthcare remained reluctant. Nevertheless, the potential for mobile technology to track, manage and improve patient health, is being increasingly recognised.

ClinTouch for instance, is a mobile health intervention co-created by a team of Manchester-based health researchers at The Farr Institute of Health Informatics’ Health eResearch Centre. ClinTouch is a psychiatric–symptom assessment tool developed to aid management of psychosis (a condition affecting 1 in 100 people). The app was co-designed by health professionals and patients, ensuring that the final output reflected both the needs of patients and clinicians. It combines a patient-focussed front end which allows users to record and monitoring their symptoms whilst simultaneously feeding this information back to clinicians to provide an early warning of possible relapse. The project has the potential to empower patients and improve relationships between the user and their physician. Moreover, if ClinTouch can reduce 5% of relapse cases, it will save the average NHS trust £250,000 to £500,000, per year (equating to a possible saving of £119 million to the NHS over three years!).

Adopting disruptive technologies such as ClinTouch can have meaningful benefits for patients and the NHS. And there are signs that the healthcare sector is warming up to the idea. Earlier this year the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) announced that they are planning to apply health technology assessments to mobile health apps and only this week, the NHS announced a £35 million investment in digital health services.

On Thursday 27th April, the North West Biotech Initiative will be hosting an interactive panel discussion on the future of digital health. We will be joined by a fantastic line-up speakers providing a range of perspectives on the topic, including:

Professor Shôn Lewis: Principal Investigator of the ClinTouch project and professor of Adult Psychiatry at The University of Manchester who will be speaking about the development of and the potential impact of the ClinTouch app. 

Tom Higham: former Executive Director at FutureEverything and a freelance digital art curator and producer, interested in the enabling power of digital technology. Tom is also diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, has worked with diabetes charity JDRF UK and has written about the benefits of and the need for improvements in mobile apps for diabetes care.

Anna Beukenhorst: a PhD candidate currently working on the Cloudy with a Chance of Pain project, a nationwide smartphone study investigating the association between the weather and chronic pain in more than 13,000 participants.

Reina Yaidoo: founder of Bassajamba, a social enterprise whose main aim is increase participation of underrepresented groups in science and technology. Bassajamba are currently working with several diabetes support groups to develop self-management apps, which incorporate an aspect of gamification.

Professor Tjeerd Van Staa: professor of eHealth Research in the Division of Informatics, Imaging and Data Sciences, at The University of Manchester. He is currently leading the CityVerve case on the use of Internet of Things technology to help people manage their Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

Dr Mariam Bibi: Senior Director of Real World Evidence at Consulting for McCann Health, External advisor for Quality and Productivity at NICE and an Associate Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University. She will be talking about the regulatory aspect of bringing digital technology to healthcare.

The event is open anyone with an interest in digital health, including the general public, students and academics. It is free to attend and will be a great opportunity to understand the potential role of digital technology in healthcare and to network with local business leaders, academics and students working at the forefront of digital healthcare.

Date: 27th April 2017
Venue: Moseley Theatre, Schuster Building, The University of Manchester
Time: 3.30pm – 6.00pm
Register to attend! http://bit.ly/2o4fzd7
Questions about the event? Please get in touch with us at: [email protected]

Guest post by: Fatima Chunara

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