The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched a $4million national competition to support innovation in living kidney donation, making a simultaneous commitment to promoting data standardisation and health information technology improvements in kidney care.
The KidneyX Empower Challenge is seeking solutions offering improvements in public awareness, the identification and support of potential living donors, donor readiness and eligibility, donor-centred outcomes, and the sharing of knowledge on things like tackling administrative barriers and delays.
Winners of the challenge will receive monetary prizes along with national recognition, according to HHS, which it hopes will help to accelerate the adoption of solutions on a wider scale.
To date, KidneyX has supported innovation in kidney care through the award of more than $25million in prizes to over 70 projects dedicated to transforming prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, HHS reports.
Alongside the challenge, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology will work with the nephrology community on data standardisation and interoperability improvements across the kidney care ecosystem. As part of this work, it will reportedly look to identify gaps and promote solutions for secure data exchange, better clinical decision-making, care coordination, research, and innovation.
Thomas Keane, national coordinator for Health IT, said: “Data and technology play a critical role in supporting patients, donors, and clinicians across the transplant ecosystem. By fostering innovation through this challenge and advancing more seamless, interoperable data exchange, we can help ensure that individuals have the information and tools they need to make informed decisions and receive high-quality, coordinated care.”
Wider trend: Promoting health innovation
The National Institute for Health and Care Research has awarded funding of £1.5 million to Leeds Teaching Hospitals as part of national funding to increase the NHS’s ability to deliver high-quality commercial research, to be used toward four initiatives including the development and validation of AI imaging algorithms to improve diagnostic accuracy. The trust plans to use the funds to purchase a HistoSonics pioneering non-invasive platform, expanding its use of sonic beam therapy (histotripsy) to advance research into new cancer therapies. Trials conducting liver tumour therapy and kidney tumour treatment showed evidence that this led to faster recovery times, shorter hospital stays, and reduced complications, it states. Now, the use of the technology will be explored for treating additional types of cancer.
A newly-launched Innovate UK funding competition is offering a share of £5 million to projects driving the growth of secure and resilient software supply chains through the adoption of the government’s Software Security Code of Practice (SSCoP). The code of practice is designed to support software vendors and their customers in reducing the likelihood and impact of software supply chain attacks, but also offers new market opportunities for the development of innovative products and services supporting adoption, Innovate UK states. To be considered, projects should increase adoption, awareness, and implementation of the SSCoP, drive the commercial growth of cyber resilient tech supply chains, increase the baseline level of cyber resilience in UK software supply chains, and support at least two SSCoP themes.
The Department of Health and Social Care along with NHS England has issued guidance encouraging health sector buyers to work with SMEs, pointing to benefits including faster innovation, improved health equity, stronger supply chains, and advanced digital capabilities. Pointing to the fact that SMEs are “often at the cutting edge of healthcare innovation” with tools and technologies such as AI and assistive technologies, the government states: “Engaging with SMEs early gives you access to agile, tailored solutions that can often solve specific system pressures faster and at a lower cost than traditional suppliers.”
