ORCHA is sponsoring the Royal Society of Medicine’s ‘Medical Apps: Mainstreaming Innovation’ event on Thursday 4th April 2019. The event will examine the growing role that apps play in healthcare delivery and the constantly changing regulatory landscape of health apps. This is something we at ORCHA are very passionate about. Whether we are reviewing an app to increase accessibility and trust for consumers, advising app developers on the nuances of app regulation, or providing digital health solutions to CCGs, Local Authorities, and healthcare professionals, ORCHA is at the forefront of mHealth adoption in improving health outcomes.

With event speakers including the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock MP, and several medical start-ups who will be showcasing the transformative effects of new technologies, ORCHA is delighted to be supporting the Royal Society of Medicine. ‘Medical Apps: Mainstreaming Innovation’ promises to be an exciting event, covering a range of topics:

• Understanding the current state of the art of medical apps
• The latest position on regulation and endorsement of medical apps
• Gaining an appreciation of how to assess the clinical effectiveness of medical apps
• Understanding of the medicolegal issues around medical app use
• Reducing the fear, uncertainty, and doubt about the use of medical apps.

The Royal Society of Medicine is one of the UK’s major providers of postgraduate medical education, aiming to advance health by becoming a trusted voice in healthcare education and innovation. The RSM exchanges information and ideas on the science, practice, and organization of medicine. This motivation to increase knowledge and trust in the healthcare industry directly aligns with ORCHA’s continual determination to make digital healthcare accessible to everyone. By increasing access to health apps, building awareness of their benefits, and facilitating trust amidst the complex data privacy landscape, ORCHA empowers people and professionals to embrace digital health.

Click here to read more about the RSM’s upcoming event and to buy tickets.

Earlier this week, ORCHA was delighted to be part of Health Tech Digital’s digital transformation series. Our CEO, Liz Ashall-Payne, discussed the benefits of choosing the right healthcare app, how to find the best apps for individual health needs, and how digital healthcare can be incorporated into care pathways by health professionals. Read on for an insight into the landscape of digital health, and watch Liz’s interview with Health Tech Digital below to find out more.

Here at ORCHA, we aim to help activate patients, professionals, and populations to find the best health apps, to achieve better health outcomes. With over 327,000 health apps to choose from, empowering people and professionals to know which apps are safe and trustworthy is essential. This presents a challenge that ORCHA breaks through by increasing awareness of and access to apps, fostering trust for consumers and professionals, and providing a way in which to regulate the vast array of health apps on offer. Our App Finder scores health apps according to their Data and Security, Clinical Assurance, and User Experience, thus empowering users to discover the best apps for their own, personal needs.

In recent years, the huge surge in smartphone use and increased engagement with digital health has indicated that people are ready to take the opportunities offered by mHealth. Further to the large number of health apps on the market, five million people download a health app every day, with over 90% of health professionals thinking that apps could help their patients. As such, it is clear that digital health solutions are becoming more embedded in everyday life and health practice.

The challenge remains, however, that both consumers and the healthcare industry, need to change the way they fundamentally think about health. Digital healthcare demands a focus on health, as opposed to ill health. Could it be, then, that the barrier to healthcare adoption is the ability to change the cultural mindset surrounding health, rather than the technology itself?

Our interview with Health Tech Digital raises the question of how to embed apps into health pathways. Liz emphasizes that, whilst there is an app for almost any condition, the crucial factor is empowering consumers to use good, safe, trustworthy health apps. As consumers’ expectations are constantly changing, there is an onus on the industry to adapt to the needs and wants of the end user, as well as to realize that one app does not fit all.

Health apps are infinitely useful as educational tools, allowing users to obtain medical information and monitor trends to track individual progress or manage a condition. It is important, therefore, that they are integrated into health pathways in such a way that provides the most effective care for patients. So, as Liz proposes below to anyone thinking about using digital health: the landscape of health apps should be embraced, and we shouldn’t be afraid to start the journey of using these technologies. The introduction of digital health may not be perfect the first time, but its potential to yield so many otherwise undiscovered benefits for healthcare providers and consumers alike surely makes any challenges worthwhile.

Watch Liz’s interview with Health Tech Digital below. You can also download our Digital Health Checklist here.

• BIMA is the British Interactive Media Association, the industry body that represents the UK digital and tech industry
• The BIMA 100 recognises the industry’s most influential people
• Liz Ashall-Payne, ORCHA’s CEO, joins the BIMA 100 in the Tech Trailblazers category
• This year’s 100 were selected by an independent panel of industry experts

To be named as part of the BIMA 100 is a prestigious accolade. The BIMA 100 celebrates the most influential, pioneering and changemaking people in the UK’s digital industry and ORCHA is delighted to announce that its CEO, Liz Ashall-Payne, has been selected by an independent panel of industry experts to join this year’s 100.

Liz was named in the Tech Trailblazers category following a year in which she has continued to increase access to and awareness of digital health for people, professionals and populations.

The announcement was made at one of digital’s biggest nights of the year, held at London’s OXO Tower on 8th May.

“Tonight is about celebrating the people who are the leading the industry right now,” explained BIMA Co-President Nat Gross. “It’s about the people we look up to, the visionary leaders and CEOs that can make our industry a better place. The people with the imagination, technical skill and creativity to take us forward; and the new talent that can keep our sector strong.

“When you look at the people in this year’s 100 – people like Liz Ashall-Payne – I think we’ve really outdone ourselves.”

There are currently 3.4 million people in England with Type 2 Diabetes and 200,000 new diagnoses made every year.  Unlike Type 1 Diabetes which cannot be prevented and is not linked to lifestyle, Type 2 Diabetes is largely preventable through lifestyle changes.  A lifelong condition, it leaves the body unable to absorb glucose, often causing complications including heart disease, stroke, limb loss and blindness.

To support its prevention, it is possible to spot if someone is at greater risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes; for example, if their blood sugar level is above the normal range.  This is where the Healthier You: NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme (NHS DPP) then comes in.

Led by NHS England, Public Health England and Diabetes UK, Reed Momenta runs the NHS DPP in regions across the UK including West Lancashire.  ‘Healthier You’ is a 40-week support programme which helps people make changes to their life that can prevent Diabetes.  Once referred by their GP because they have high blood sugar levels, people are given a Health and Wellbeing Coach. They then go on a journey through 18 group sessions which cover nutrition, exercise and behaviour change, and lead to a healthier lifestyle and lower blood sugar levels.

Commissioned by West Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group, the ‘Healthier You’ programme has been established in West Lancashire, where more than 5,000 people are believed to have Diabetes; higher than the national average level.  To help overcome often life-long habits and embed new long-term behaviour change amongst participants, the team identified that health apps could strengthen the course.  Mindful that any change to the programme must be based on evidence, it partnered with ORCHA who, as experts in the field, would help the team identify and select apps that fitted the programme and were safe, clinically assured and easy to use.

Alongside advice and worksheets, participants are introduced to apps that will help them apply the recommended changes.  So now, during the session on being more active, they have fun comparing each other’s results on Accupedo Pedometer, a simple free app that counts your steps.  Or, after learning the importance of knowing their sugar intake, they are encouraged to use the Change4Life Food Scanner, to know exactly how much sugar is in what they buy from the supermarket.

The introduction of apps has been successful; uptake has been high, and coaches report that apps are helping to better embed practical changes into participants’ lives.  Later in the course, participants also increasingly reference information from an app rather than asking a coach, which is a good sign for self-management skills which are important for long-lasting results.  Participants get their blood sugar levels tested at the start, half way through and at the end of the course.  These measures show that the course is working and participants are preventing Diabetes.

Commenting on the introduction of apps, Rachel Gaskell, Health and Wellbeing Coach at Jon Scott, Health & Wellbeing Manager, Reed Momenta, adds to this: “The programme achieves results. Participants change their behaviours and across Lancashire lose on average 3.1kg, and in West Lancashire this figure is 5.4kg.  Adding ORCHA to the programme further empowers and informs participants, providing practical support and engaging personalised information. This helps to make changes stick and become part of everyday routine.”

Reed Momenta, said: “Participants who use apps as part of the course seem to understand and engage with the subject better. They also have a clearer picture of how they are performing against any goal.  For example, when we discuss the importance of keeping a food diary, those with the Calorie Counter app by Fat Secret, not only had amazing insight at their fingertips, but regularly monitored and adjusted their nutrition habits.”

Mike Maguire, Chief Officer of West Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group, continued “To tackle the escalation in Diabetes, people need to introduce lifestyle changes that are achievable and sustainable.  Adding ORCHA to the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme helps us to better deliver this. By including engaging tools, that people can access when they need them, we’ve increased the programme’s ability to deliver long term behaviour change that will ultimately save lives.”

Diabetes rates in West Lancashire – 7%

https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/lancashire-insight/health-and-care/long-term-conditions/Diabetes/

The national average is 6.6 per cent.

Read more at: http://www.westlancashireccg.nhs.uk/new-Diabetes-programme-launches-in-west-lancashire-52781/

Read about the author, Andy Jeans (Head of Implementations), on LinkedIn