enterprise in europe ehealth mission glasgow 25.5.10 harnessing the benefits of academic-industry...
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Enterprise in Europe eHealth MissionGlasgow 25.5.10
Harnessing the benefits of academic-industry collaboration
Dr Claudia PagliarieHealth Interdisciplinary Research Group
University of Edinburgh
Aims
To highlight
Problems facing the translation of innovation to routine practice
Potential benefits of collaboration between eHealth designers & researchers e.g. for
adding to the evidence base
optimising & tailoring tools and services
supporting business case
maximising implementation
Give examples of current and recent collaborations
Discuss challenges for effective collaboration
The eHealth Climate
Ambitious programmes to revolutionalise healthcare information management & communications using digital technologies
Policy drivers to empower citizens/patients to self-manage health
eHealth innovation strategic priority for Digital Economy (e.g. WHI)
Major industry players entering eHealth market + explosion of new business ventures
Promise of BIG rewards….
eHealth business in the danger zone
Uncertainty over return on investment Widespread failure to demonstrate
clinical or efficiency gains or translate into routine practice [1]
Technical problems (chiefly interoperability)
Major barriers are socio-technical, Lack of demonstrated benefit &
suboptimal business case definition Lack of persuasive evidence for long-
term investment Austerity climate
[i] Kaplan B, Harris-Salamone K (2009) Health IT success and failure: recommendations from literature and an AMIA workshop. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association March 4, 2009 as doi:10.1197/jamia.M2997
Designing for & with users
Staged user engagement for + clinical appropriateness + interface usability + models of impact + understanding of contexts of use
Robust evidence of impacts needed to persuade clinicians of value
motivate evidence-based practice/ commissioning/purchasing
Academic research can maximise quality & objectivity of both
Need for integrated approaches
Developers, designers
(Suppliers)Researchers & evaluators
Individuals, organisations and
communities
(Users, Purchasers, Commissioners,
Payers)
Sequential stages in evaluation of complex healthcare interventions
Working model of iterative evaluation.
Qualitative & quantitative
research methods, tailored to problem
& stage of innovation
Examples of eHealth@Edinburgh
Public & community health Telemonitoring, telehealthcare, M-health for long-term illness Online health interventions (e.g. smoking cessation, depression) Evaluations of large scale IM&T implementations (e.g. NHS CRS) Patient centred healthcare (e.g. Personal health records) Public engagement (e.g. on record linkage for research) Evidence syntheses & HIT policy analysis (systematic reviews) Record linkageInformatics & e-Science Grid computing, distributed data architectures Artificial intelligence applied to healthcare Robotics, nanotechnologies, bionics Medical imaging (e.g. microbubbles)Laboratory and translational sciences Prescribing & infection information systems, point of care testingSocial, political, legal and management sciences Emerging innovations & technology policy & governanceVeterinary sciences Virtual farmMedical eLearning technologies Virtual medical school, global learningEducation Health Informatics postgraduate programmes (MSc, PhD) … Etc….
Examples of industry collaborations in eHealth
Intel (home telehealth) Tunstall Medical (home telehealth) IEM (telemonitoring) Selex (telemonitoring) Avalis (mobile telehealth) T+ Medical (mobile telehealth) Orange (mobile patient support) IBM (methodology, high performance computing) Agilent Technologies (AI for prosthetics) Bristol Myers Squibb (medical imaging
technologies) etc………
What forms do these collaborations take?
Supplier sponsors academics to evaluate or co-produce their product
Academically-developed technologies inspire industry investment or collaboration
University spin-off continues academic relationship Researchers purchase eHealth software/hardware for
study purposes Supplier provides low-cost/free technology & support for
research Full collaboration on integrated programme of
development or implementation activities Industry and academic partners working together out of
academic interest or to scope ideas for innovation (e.g. DE)
Benefits to industry
Access to theoretical & methodological expertise
Potential for positive independent evaluation to support the business case (academic credibility)
Cheaper than consultancy firms Opportunity for continuing
professional development of industry staff
Benefits to academics
Access to new types/sources of knowledge (e.g. market surveillance)
Proximity to emerging innovations
Scale benefits of working with large organisations
Financial, technical or equipment support
Opportunity to optimise interventions prior to clinical trials
Chance to influence & study already-planned rollouts
Challenges for industry partners
Risk of negative findings which do not support the business case
Problems with preventing publication of unflattering results due to ‘academic freedom’
Negotiating new ways of working together
Non-shared language, concepts, culture, drivers
Mismatched timescales
Challenges for academic partners
Exclusion of applied research in metrics of academic performance
Restricted publication due to implied vested interests or lack of distance
Vulnerability to funding cuts at short notice
Non-shared language, concepts, culture, drivers
Conclusion
Appropriate collaboration between industry & academia can help to strengthen the quality, effectiveness and adoption of eHealth innovations
Critically it also provides a means to substantiate the business case on which evidence-based decisions about purchasing or commissioning will increasingly be based
