Digital health hub DigitalHealth.London has announced the first group of businesses in its year-long Accelerator programme.
The 32 small and medium-size digital health businesses have been given the chance to work with the NHS to refine their innovations. A dedicated team of Digital Health Navigators will help the businesses to engage with healthcare experts, understand and respond to the needs of the market and gain first-hand advice on products in development.
Among the 2016-17 cohort is Sense.ly, a ‘virtual nurse’ mobile app which uses artificial intelligence to guide patients through their health query 24/7 and direct them to a 111 clinician, or to book a GP appointment, locate clinical services, or get medical information and advice.
MumoActive is a diabetes tracking tool that enables people with type 1 or 2 diabetes to track their key health metrics, including sugars, medicines, insulin and carb intake.
DrDoctor is an appointment management tool that facilitates communication between the hospital and the patient, letting patients choose their appointment times and complete digital assessments to avoid unnecessary extra visits.
Programme director Jenny Thomas said that the Accelerator is expected to “close the gap between product development and the uptake of new solutions within hospitals and other healthcare settings” by making it easier to navigate and engage with the NHS.
“With ever-increasing pressures on health and care services, our ambition is to speed up the adoption of innovations at scale, ensuring that greater numbers of patients benefit from emerging new technology, more rapidly,” Thomas explained.
Professor Keith McNeil, chief clinical information officer at NHS England, added: “Digital innovation has the power to directly enhance patient care, improve the sustainability of our systems and transform the way people access NHS services and manage their own health.
“We are already seeing the benefits to patients and NHS staff as we harness the potential of smart technology and we are investing hundreds of millions to move faster in realising such benefits across the entire health and social care system.”
