Recommendations to drive inclusive digital health tech innovation published
Following the Health and Social care secretary’s £2 billion plan for digital health and social care, healthcare professionals are now expected to adopt new digital solutions. To support this strategy, the University of Plymouth, the Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) and Boehringer Ingelheim, launches the first evidence-based recommendations to drive inclusive digital health tech innovation. How to involve and engage patients in digital health tech innovation, An Evidence Based Guide sets standards to ensure patients are at the centre of digital transformation.
The new user-friendly guide has combined the results of a systematic literature review, advisory panels and multi-stakeholder input to produce four clear principles (ENACT) around patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE). The principles make it clear how to involve patients in product innovation and make recommendations around critical issues such as data privacy, intellectual property, inclusivity, reimbursement, useability, and recruitment of patients for health technology entrepreneurs.
The guide not only helps with the initial digital development but also puts in place processes to support ongoing product improvement. By adopting the core principles, digital innovators can continually evolve their product, better communicate its value to the system, and crucially improve patient trust in the technologies created.
The guide will be distributed across the AHSN Network to support innovation across the NHS, helping to ensure patient voices are built into the digital reform of healthcare and is available for download here.
ENACT Principles:
| Engage:
The principle is to involve people early and throughout. To do that successfully, it is helpful to consider your strategy carefully: why are you conducting PPIE and how do you want people to feel during the process? The different ways of engagement should also be considered: are you looking to conduct user research, test the product, and at which phase. This can impact how people are involved. |
| Acknowledge:
The principle is to collaboratively discuss and agree Intellectual Property (IP) rights from the outset, so you must be clear on who owns the IP and how contributions will be governed. |
| Communicate:
The principle is to develop a feedback loop. This should be an iterative process which entails communicating with participants often about how and why their contributions have been included (or not) and provides the foundation to build meaningful relationships. |
| Trust and Transparency:
The principle is to provide clear assurances and information about patient confidentiality, data privacy and security which requires being transparent, no matter what. If you want to be perceived as trustworthy, be open about risks and respect people’s decisions. |
Matt Whitty, Chief Executive of the Accelerated Access Collaborative and Director of Innovation, Research & Life Sciences, NHS England & NHS Improvement, said: “Through research and innovation, we can improve patient outcomes and reduce health inequalities. Patient-centered digital technology is an increasingly important aspect of a dynamic and sustainable health system. By ensuring patients are involved in developing these digital technologies we will create solutions that best meet their needs. I hope this guide will help support innovative digital technology development across our health service.”
Professor Arunangsu Chatterjee, Dean of Digital Transformation, University of Leeds and Visiting Professor of Digital Health & Education at the University of Plymouth, said: “Digital health innovation is still fairly new territory and there is a need for clarity to ensure development that is inclusive of patients. Bringing together the academic rigour and expertise of organizations like ours, the commercial expertise of Boehringer Ingelheim and the community network of the AHSN has accelerated positive change, and the development of this resource has been a true partnership.”