The Digital Healthcare Show: Hot and Not
/I'm becoming very familiar with the Excel Stadium. Last week’s Digital Healthcare Show was my second visit to the East London conference centre following February’s Festival of Genomics. Armed with the basics of how to change the channel on the wireless headsets, I had more time to appreciate the latest digital health innovations causing a splash on the scene.
So as with Rewired, here’s the latest trends from one of the biggest digital health conferences in the UK this year.
Hot:
The End-User
Digital health is finally taking notice of a vital figure in its pathways: the end-user. James Freed’s niftily titled ‘ why your digital transformation will fail’ showed how vital it is to keep the end-user in mind and onboard them appropriately, otherwise, as his examples show, your initiative will fail.
Digital Literacy
As we’ve already seen, digital health is transforming nearly every aspect of healthcare. Just as Lloyd George envelopes are a thing of the past, the healthcare landscape will transform over the next few decades, and thankfully, leaders recognise the need to bring patients and staff with them into the digital era. The panel discussion chaired by Caroline Stanger highlighted how the digital transformation is conducted at both a local and national level, and Clare Thomson of Imperial College Health Partners gave real world examples of this.
Virtual Reality
Before you bin your Meta Quest headsets (not that you would at that price), VR may be the next big thing in the medtech scene. Already successfully employed by training simulators e.g. Bodyswaps, VR may also have therapeutic use in conditions like mental health. An interesting panel discussion from Aileen Jackson showed the potential for VR as both a teaching tool and therapy in and of itself. Incredibly exciting is that creative studios like Anagram are now making ADHD simultation experiences, helping people understand what the experience of a mental health condition is like.
Not:
Burnout
In fact, medtech is targeting healthcare worker burnout in both systems and technology. Ambient voice technology like that of O.S.L.E.R and Nabla could be major factors in reducing the administrative burden in a medical consultation. Another potential lifesaver is robotic process automation (RPA), for example, emailing of public health information, such as that in the Berkshire NHS Health Visiting Team, have been beneficial for both patients and the adminstrative team.
Ignoring the experts
The importance of clinician input is vital as evidenced in the best digital products. Pathways developed in collaboration with clinicians e.g. Ramai Santhiripala’s streamlined surgical care, stand the best chance of success.
Sitting still
Digital innovation continues apace and AI still features heavily in the discourse. Certainly in a Digital Healthcare Show I expected momentum, but the pace and belief that tech solutions can solve problems is greater than I expected. We need more of this conviction, alongside proven success and greater clinician and patient involvement to really have impact through digital health.