In this feature we dive into the finalists that made the ‘Impact of the Year’ category, an award in the Health Tech Awards 2021 that recognises innovations and programmes that have made a difference.
In this category we highlight the work of Eitan Medical, CorLife, BDR Group, Qolcom & HPE Aruba, Credentially, Hertility Health and ImproveWell.
Explore the entries here…
CorLife
CorLife, a welltech platform designed by ex-NHS doctors/consultants and scientists, helps people take control of their health by tackling threats of Westernised diseases and ill health costs on businesses. The platform supports long-term behavioural change through personalised programmes, using medical data to track, monitor and educate users.
CorLife is a reinvention of the clinical coaching by leveraging technology to help businesses improve workforce productivity at scale.
The CorLife platform collects data from blood results, smart watches and scales to inform participants of their current health status. This data is then used to personalise a programme for the individual by looking at their whole health.
In 2018/19, CorLife ran a proof of concept with Samsung, BP and FujiFilm – and achieved substantial results via technology and data platform (in line with individual results) and delivering positive ROI for the entire workforce.
The results:
- Average weight loss in 6 months – 5.1kg
- Reduction in fat mass – 13.7%
- Improvement in self-reported view of health and energy levels – 8% and 13%
BDR Group and Medway Community Healthcare
The BDR Group has worked with Medway Community Healthcare (MCH) to provide cost-effective, robust solutions that enhance the experience for staff and service users, ensuring true value for money and future-proof operations.
The company specialises in bespoke IT systems and support, and operates as MCH’s outsourced IT.
During the past year the company helped MCH move to remote working, and delivered virtual desktop services to over 90% of MCH’s workforce within two weeks of lockdown.
In the entry the partnership highlighted the completed projects including:
- Migration of WAN from a combination of various public networks (causing speed and reliability issues) to a single MPLS with breakouts into HSCN and Public internet with 100% uptime since implementation and up to 10x speed increase
- Update or upgrade of all laptops and desktops to Windows 10 (Over 2,000 devices)
- Implementation of a new EPR system and BI Reports around all sites
- All community nurses now work from Surface Go’s with 4G tablets
Gerd Knight, Head of IT, MCH, commented: “At a stroke we’ve gone from broken and unreliable legacy IT to a scalable, reliable and fit for purpose solution that supports modern flexible ways of working. In short, a solution provided by BDR and Nutanix which ‘just works’ and is empowering us to deliver the healthcare services patients deserve today, while planning for the future with confidence.”
Qolcom & HPE Aruba
In response to the pandemic, the NHS Nightingale Hospital Exeter opened to provide additional capacity to care for COVID-19 patients. Purpose-built in just 8 weeks, a crucial requirement for the 116-bed Hospital was a robust, scalable and reliable network to support IT and healthcare teams to deliver better patient outcomes. Secure Wi-Fi network was a top priority to ensure operational efficiency to provide critical equipment and responsive care.
Qolcom, the EMEA and UKI Partner of the year for HPE Aruba, delivered “a comprehensive, reliable wired and wireless network across the site within weeks.”
The Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust selected Qolcom and HPE Aruba, this meant that the on-the-ground presence the time to deploy was significantly reduced. Central services could be rapidly extended to the Nightingale Exeter for authentication–via Aruba ClearPass and for management, via Aruba Airwave.
The network solution had four defining features, each contributing to meeting the Nightingale Hospital’s precise requirements:
- Granular security (for wi-fi and wired network):
- Dependable hardware, intelligent design:
- Wireless connectivity, centralised control:
- Collaborative delivery and 24/7 support:
The outcome, the company notes was: “A fast, reliable and secure IT network was delivered for the Nightingale Exeter – to a very tight timescale and on budget.”
A testimonial from Paul Hopkins, Programme Director, NHS England, said: “It is really refreshing to work with a company which has such similar values to our organisation. The ability to deploy this major IT solution so quickly has potentially been life saving and a simple, secure experience, across a wide spectrum of users, will continue to be at the heart of Nightingale Exeter.”
Credentially
Credentially, a provider of automated healthcare recruitment software, is on a mission to save millions of hours of time in hiring and onboarding in healthcare.
The company’s entry notes the average time to recruit in the industry is 128 days, and through using its automation tools, the time can be reduced up to 90%.
Founded in 2016 by CEO Dr Kit Latham and CTO Artem Stalpouski; Credentially is an end-to-end software solution designed to manage the healthcare hiring and onboarding process for providers and the NHS.
The company said: “One of Credentially’s most powerful features helps providers to solve this challenge through deep, authorised integrations with healthcare’s most important credentialing databases. In addition to automated pre-employment checks, Credentially continues to check a clinician’s right to work throughout their employment, ensuring that providers can proactively react to adverse events or licence expiry (for example) which may affect a clinician’s employment status. This in turn, ensures that providers can demonstrate they have given due consideration to patient safety through a robust system of regular employment checks. Credentially maintains active integrations with the GMC, NMC and uCheck, so customers can process DBS checks directly through the Credentially platform.”
Grace Noble, Operations manager, Qured, commented: “Credentially has made my role more efficient. CQC inspection was impressed with our clinical governance and our HR compliance, and I was glad to present them with Credentially.”
Eitan Medical
In this entry we heard from Eitan Medical a provider of infusion therapy and drug delivery devices.
The company shared infromaiton on its flagship solution, the SapphireTM infusion pump (FDA-Cleared), a robust infusion device built for hospital, pre-hospital and emergency situations, and designed to deliver a wide range of therapies for varied clinical uses, including saline, Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN), lipids, IV medication, perineural medication, epidural medication, blood, and blood products.
Eitan added: “Additionally, the Sapphire has drug library capabilities with Dose Error Reduction Systems (DERS), which are safety features that can help prevent medication errors and promote safer use of an infusion pump. This new advancement makes infusion therapies and treatment safer and plays a role in enabling rapid medication delivery in emergency situations.”
ImproveWell
ImproveWell technology supports organisations to capture continuous, real-time and actionable insight from the frontline to improve staff experience and the quality of patient care.
The tool aims to address the ‘feedback loop’ from frontline to management on a continuous basis.
The solution is grounded in three principles: those on the frontline are best-placed to improve the systems they work in; giving staff a voice and empowering them to find solutions to the challenges they face is fundamental to engagement and positive experience; and a happier workforce leads to better patient outcomes.
The company said: “ImproveWell’s feedback systems provide a platform for people to drive change, together. 24/7 everyone can: suggest ideas for improvement; share how their workday is going; and complete tailored pulse surveys.
“An intelligent data dashboard helps group and organisational leads to capture real-time data, track workforce sentiment, prioritise quality improvement efforts, measure change and publish reports to complete the feedback loop.”
South West Academic Health Science Network published an independent evaluation of the use of ImproveWell at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust. The report showed that ImproveWell is an effective solution to empower staff to make positive changes that benefit staff morale, create resource efficiencies and improve patient safety and experience.
Key findings:
- ImproveWell boosts morale and engagement: 75% of staff using ImproveWell reported feeling able to improve their area of work compared to the 53% scored by the Trust as a whole.
- ImproveWell gives staff a stronger voice: 85% of users of ImproveWell felt it empowered them to implement ideas for change.
- ImproveWell helps to prioritise improvement initiatives: Staff reported that improvements and changes were implemented at a quicker rate than before ImproveWell. Through ImproveWell, ideas get recognised and actioned.
- ImproveWell positively affects patient safety and experience, efficiencies and cost savings: The ideas suggested by staff improved patient safety, increased efficiency, released more time for patient care, and made significant financial savings for the Trust.
Hertility Health
Hertility is on a mission to transform women’s healthcare by pioneering tailored diagnostics and next-generation advancements through predictive algorithms.
The company’s entry said: “Hertility is solving the current invisible infertility crisis, by helping women from menstruation to menopause. Hertility is the only government approved test providing clear results, teleconsultations, counselling and access to experts.”
The offering includes:
- A simple at-home blood test, clear insights, actionable advice and a route to care, Hertility Health helps women understand their risks of infertility so that they can take control of their fertility future.
- Created by leading scientists, these tailored hormone tests enable every woman to get personalised answers unique to their individual health needs.
- The process begins with an online questionnaire which takes into account over 1,500 variables that are used to calculate one’s risk for certain pathologies.
- The responses and individual biometrics feed the algorithm which tailors each test.
- Once a sample has been collected and sent to their accredited labs, the results are compiled into a digital report, which accounts for over 54,000 variables and explains the hormone levels in an understandable way, taking into consideration all lifestyle factors.
Hertility Health has helped over 2,000 women understand their reproductive health and infertility risks, working with leading world experts to provide personalised care pathways that help with all aspects of women’s health. In recognising the sensitive nature of these results, Hertility Health also offers fertility counselling to those in need, supporting their ‘what’s up’ and ‘what’s next’ approach.
