First up: here are our finalists for the category of Best Health Tech Solution of the Year.
Altera Digital Health UK
Overview: Altera Digital Health is advancing healthcare delivery within the UK and supporting the sustainability of the NHS.
Why? To improve operational efficiency and patient care, and facilitate NHS digital transformation.
What happened? Altera’s solutions led to significant cost savings for NHS trusts, with the configuration of electronic patient lists at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust being projected to offer annual savings exceeding £3 million. Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s validation against HIMSS EMRAM Stage 7 also demonstrates Altera’s dedication to driving innovation and enhancing patient safety. The company has successfully supported Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, a trust which less than five years ago had one of the lowest digital maturity ratings for a trust its size, to significantly improve. With Altera’s solutions such as Sunrise EPR, Patient Flow dashboard, and ePMA, the trust is now aiming for HIMSS Stage 6. In terms of customer satisfaction, 93 percent of clinicians reported being satisfied with Sunrise EPR at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust.
Looking ahead. With 40 percent of the team having worked in the NHS, Altera hopes to continue to build an understanding and response to common challenges, bringing change for the better.
Basys.ai
Overview: Basys.ai’s AI-powered prior authorisation platform revolutionises prior authorisation with 98 percent accuracy, reducing administrative burdens, saving costs, and enabling an efficient and patient-centric healthcare system.
Why? To address the persistent challenge relating to access to timely and effective treatment, often hindered by complex administrative processes and systemic inefficiencies.
What happened? By harnessing the power of natural language processing and large language models, basys.ai’s platform can comprehend complex payer policies and integrate them with patient data, enabling accurate and efficient coverage decisions. On the provider side, machine learning and deep learning algorithms analyse patient data to understand disease progression, ensuring that treatment recommendations align with the most up-to-date clinical evidence. This comprehensive approach not only streamlines the prior authorisation process but also fosters transparency by providing detailed explanations for coverage decisions through a patented chatbot interface. In a four-month pilot with Mayo Clinic, basys.ai reduced administrative expenses by 87 percent, shortened the average time to coverage decision by eight days, and maintained a 98 percent clinical accuracy rate for automated decisions.
Looking ahead. Basys.ai plans to continue to expand its partnerships, aiming to establish itself as the platform of choice for health plans nationwide, delivering substantial cost reductions and driving transformative change in healthcare accessibility and affordability.
Uccello Designs
Overview: Uccello Designs specialises in creating innovative, accessible kitchen aids and appliances that enhance the independence and safety of individuals with limited strength, mobility, dexterity and/or visibility.
Why? To address the often-overlooked needs of individuals who struggle with daily tasks due to physical limitations, and empower those with limited mobility, strength, dexterity, and/or visibility.
What happened? The Uccello Kettle features an innovative tilt-to-pour action that eliminates the need to life a heavy kettle. The ergonomic handle and non-slip base ensure a secure grip and stable operation. The kettle itself is lightweight and balanced, making it easy to pour with pain or struggle, and the wide spout ensures a steady, controlled flow of water, reducing the risk of spills and scalds. Feedback from customers and healthcare professionals has highlighted several key benefits, including increased independence, enhanced safety, and improved quality of life. Testimonials from customers often highlight the newfound freedom and confidence that the product provides.
Looking ahead. Uccello Designs plans to continue to enhance independence, safety, and quality of life for individuals with limited mobility, strength, dexterity, and/or visibility.
Naq
Overview: Naq is an automated compliance platform, automating 80 percent of tasks. It is designed to be fast and simple and has been shown to save innovators £20,000 and 160 man-hours each year.
Why? Compliance is the UK digital health industry’s biggest barrier, stopping many technologies getting to patients.
What happened? Naq offers innovators a faster, simpler, and more cost-effective approach to achieving, monitoring, and managing their digital health security and compliance. Before Naq, meeting just one standard could take an innovator more than 200 hours each year. By conducting compliance themselves, customers also understand the NHS requirements and their purpose better. One testimonial reports a product achieving compliance in GDPR, Cyber Essentials and DSPT in around two months, and a saving of around £10,000. Naq has grown by 300 percent over the last 12 months, as digital health innovators seek smart solutions to meeting NHS security and compliance requirements. Naq now powers the security compliance of more than 100 digital health innovators spanning the health and care ecosystem, achieving an NPS satisfaction and a churn rate of only 2.5 percent, and 15 percent returning.
Looking ahead. Naq aims to dismantle the barriers of compliance, enabling innovators to focus on their core mission: enhancing patient health and pioneering the future of healthcare technology.
Zebra Technologies
Overview: Zebra Technologies supplied a radio frequency identification (RFID) asset tracking solution to Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust with estimated savings of 88,000 hours across 2,500 staff.
Why? To tackle the challenge of equipment going missing, subsequently helping to ensure the organisation does the best it can with the resources at its disposal.
What happened? The hospital turned to Zebra’s RFID labelling and scanner technology to assist with labelling and tracking. In 2023, the hospital had a large product recall. Before Zebra’s RFID solution, the entire recall would have taken around 600 hours – hours that would be of more use to patients or mission-critical tasks in the hospital. With Zebra’s RFID solution, this was cut down to just a single hour. The RFID labels and how they had been logged in the hospital’s new tracking system meant that staff could rapidly pull patient records and determine who had been affected historically. At the same time, the consultant who needed this information received it within the hour. It is estimated that around 2,500 staff spend approximately 56 minutes a week (equivalent to 14 minutes per shift) looking for items. Each search now takes less than four minutes on average. This saves about 35 hours per employee per year, equal to 87,500 hours across 2,500 staff, the equivalent of 2,187 weeks of time. It has delivered clinical time back to clinicians who can now focus more on the patients in their care.
Looking ahead. Zebra Technologies hopes to continue to give clinicians time back to care.
MARCH Labs
Overview: Using a machine learning algorithm to detect cauda equina compression in MRI scans, reducing diagnostic delays, improving patient outcomes, and minimising NHS litigation from delayed CES management.
Why? This project targets the urgent need for early detection and management of Cauda Equina Syndrome (CES), caused by compressed lower spinal nerves.
What happened? NHS England is mandating 24/7 MRI availability for suspected CES from 2024, a significant logistical effort underscoring CES’s importance. The output of this research was the development of a computer vision algorithm to automatically detect the presence or absence of CEC on an MRI scan. This will lead to earlier diagnosis and a shorter time to surgery for positive cases and earlier discharge for negative cases. MARCH Labs developed a machine learning model that can promptly detect cases with high CEC risks on MRI scans for urgent review by medical professionals, with a focus on using sagittal T2 MRI sequences. 467 lumbar spine mid-sagittal T2 MRI images were extracted from the PACS dataset. Compared to the decision making of a trained neurosurgeon, the model performed better in correctly detecting CEC. These promising results demonstrate that this technology can improve healthcare quality and care provision, with the timely diagnosis of CEC and management of CES.
Looking ahead. As referrals rise, MARCH Labs hopes that this tool can potentially mitigate patient harm and legal risks.
C2-Ai
Overview: A digital health platform using clinical risk adjustment at scale to reduce harm, mortality and costs in hospitals globally.
Why? C2-Ai has developed its platform to help reduce deaths and life changing harms, reduce length of stay, free capacity across inpatient care and also get people through the waiting list faster.
What happened? The platform identifies and helps resolve issues across the whole of acute care, to reduce harm and readmissions, and free capacity. Prioritisation of the waiting list effectively means the right patients are seen at the right time based on their clinical risk (NHS reports indicate eight percent reduction in emergency admissions, 125 bed-days saved per 1,000 patients, thousands of surgeon years of time potentially saved across NHS and £2bn++ NHS savings). Additionally it has been shown to reduce surgical complications by 56 percent and triggers of avoidable harm including AKI, pneumonia and sepsis by an average 83 percent in a leading hospital with all the best systems and processes. C2-Ai’s system helped one hospital to avoid 122 deaths and 345 harms in orthopaedics and trauma alone in one year, and achieved very high levels of quality and patient safety (clinically risk-adjusted OE ratios of 0.27 for mortality and 0.45 for morbidity).
Looking ahead. C2-Ai is looking to continue its work to deliver improvements in efficiency and inpatient care.
Mira
Overview: Mira is a hormonal health company providing integrative care and hormonal testing for over 100,000 customers, and offers an FDA-compliant at-home fertility monitor with quantitative technology.
Why? Offering solutions to test, boost and navigate fertility, taking on the challenges of infertility, delayed motherhood, and the rural healthcare gap. Mira reduces the need for extensive lab testing and helps lower the cost of fertility treatments.
What happened? In 2023, Mira introduced the Mira Clarity Kit, an at-home hormone testing solution. This Kit allows users to monitor four key reproductive hormones—Luteinizing Hormone (LH), Estrogen (E3G), Pregnanediol Glucuronide (PdG), and Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH)—which are crucial for evaluating female hormonal status. The new addition to the solution, FSH monitoring, helps to define fertility stage and predicting how far person is from menopause, especially important for those trying to conceive after age 35. Mira believes this offers the only quantitative fertility monitor in the U.S. market that tests all four key reproductive hormones at home with one device. Mira’s AI, trained on 13+ million hormone data points and 880,000 menstrual cycles, reveals the impact of sex hormones on health conditions for better diagnosis and understanding. To date, Mira has collaborated with over 500 practitioners and providers across the globe.
Looking ahead. Mira has demonstrated significant growth over the past three years, and plans to continue this growth to support more women with their fertility.
Sanius Health
Overview: Sanius Health’s AI-driven digital platform integrates data from wearables, symptoms data and medical records to enhance understanding and management of blood cancers.
Why? Individuals with rare and complex chronic blood cancers often encounter significant challenges in comprehending the intricacies of their condition, and current methods of assessing these diseases frequently fail to provide a comprehensive picture.
What happened? Initially focusing on a patient cohort with Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia (WM), a rare form of blood cancer that affects B-cells, Sanius Health developed a ‘digital health ecosystem’, integrating electronic disease symptom data via a mobile application, real-time biometrics from clinically validated wearables, and medical records. This approach has provided valuable real-world evidence on the daily impact of WM and the effects of various treatments on patients. This is achieved through continuous monitoring of patients’ real-time biometrics, quality of life indicators, and healthcare utilisation. This information has the potential to significantly improve care and support for WM patients by empowering patients to take an active role in managing their health through monitoring of their daily health metrics and improving their overall QoL. In addition to monitoring, this comprehensive approach has shown potential to enhance understanding of therapeutic effects, address unmet needs in WM, enable targeted interventions based on individual patient needs, and improve the prediction of disease progression.
Looking ahead. The technology has recently been launched in Myeloproliferative Neoplasms (MPN), and Sanius Health is currently analysing data insights and patient impacts in this new application, with more findings expected soon.
Lenus Health Ltd
Overview: The DYNAMIC-ROSE study in Hull evaluated the Lenus Digital Supported Self-Management Service’s impact on clinical outcomes and healthcare resource utilisation for COPD patients.
Why? To help patients and clinicians better understand COPD and how to manage it, as well as offering access to guidance to identify early onset of exacerbations to avoid admissions and improve outcomes.
What happened? The Lenus Treat: Digital Supported Self-Management Service is a remote management service for people with high-risk COPD. The patient app is accessible from any internet connected device using an accessible design approach. It includes patient-reported outcomes reporting, self-management plans, medication management, wearables and devices integration, and two-way messaging. The service also provides a Healthcare Professional Dashboard which includes messaging, two-way integration with electronic health records, and access to PROs and patient acquired data. The study used matching to pair cases with control patients and enrolled 111 patients, 42 percent of whom were from the most deprived areas of Hull. Results included improved patient outcomes (estimated 0.3 QALY per patient), a 50 percent reduction in hospital admissions, and a £1,749 saving per patient, per annum, versus standard care.
Looking ahead. Lenus services has been provided with draft guidance from NICE for Digital Support Self-Management for COPD in a recent Early Value Assessment. Business cases related to the service are currently being developed with the ICB.
Voice-Care International Ltd
Overview: The Voice-Care Surgical Workflow enables the verbal recording of any checklist before, during and after a procedure, instantly recording and uploading notes to the patient record directly from the point of care.
Why? To enable clinicians to perform a pre-planned, standardised compliance workflow whilst enforcing standardisation of data entry via the options presented.
What happened? The team at ICHT worked alongside Voice-Care to develop a solution focusing on CVV line insertions. Taking clinicians through a step-by-step approach to the procedure, Voice-Care is totally hands free and voice commanded, which allows users to confirm that each step within this particular procedure has been completed. All documents are automatically uploaded to the patient record directly from the point of care. It is fully-automated and collects data constantly, allowing data from the clinical information system to be pulled collectively by a data analyst without have to go into individual patient records. ICHT found it extremely easy to train clinicians on the solution – around 20 minutes per user. All notes pertaining to the LocSSIPs Surgical Checklist are instantly recorded and uploaded to the patient record, enabling care team access to real-time incident information. This ensures 100 percent LocSSIPs Surgical Safety Checklist compliance whilst offering standardisation and simple usage for all clinicians.
Looking ahead. Voice-Care hopes to continue to bring benefits to clinicians and compliance workflows.
Black Space Technology
Overview: Black Space Technology’s Rapid-EPR integrates advanced technologies like wireless vital sign monitoring and video conferencing to help enhance healthcare delivery.
Why? To help deliver healthcare in remote and challenging environments, addressing critical gaps in emergency medical response.
What happened? The solution is used internationally by IGO, NGO and military customers deployed on land, sea and air. In emergencies, especially remote or combat situations, timely and accurate medical intervention is crucial. Traditional methods often lack real-time data integration, access to comprehensive patient records and specialist medical advice. Rapid-EPR integrates cutting-edge technologies, including wireless vital sign monitoring, real-time situational awareness and high-definition video conferencing, into a robust, portable platform. Since deployment, Rapid-EPR has demonstrated improved response times in military exercises, with real-time data transmission enabling immediate medical consultations which ultimately reduce the “golden hour” mortality risk. It has also supported remote primary and emergency care of casualties, with casualty information, images, vital sign data and ECGs successfully sent back to a UK Medical Centre using Wi-Fi and satellite.
Looking ahead. Black Space is collaborating with the United Nations to mainstream the use of telemedicine across UN peacekeeping missions.
Vertis Health
Overview: AnalyseRx fully integrates into GP clinical systems, helping identify medicines optimisation opportunities across patient populations, supporting preventative care, reducing emergency admissions, and improving patient outcomes.
Why? NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB procured AnalyseRx to support practices in identifying patients at high risk of an admission as a result of medication to help keep them out of hospital.
What happened? FDB consulted with H&W ICB to understand regional and local priorities before reviewing national indicators within AnalyseRx that could support CEIF and other core requirements. These were set up within the software, so they were easily accessible for all practices at deployment. Initial searches in the GP clinical system surfaced patients who met the criteria for benefitting from a lipid lowering therapy (LLT). Using the AnalyseRx integrated dashboard, filters identified specific patient cohorts that met the criteria. AnalyseRx was able to show where there was a missed opportunity for that patient that they could benefit from being resolved. One such patient had a 10mg dose of ezetimibe added to their existing 80mg dose of atorvastatin and saw their non-HDL cholesterol reduced from 3.5mmol/L down to 2.2mmol/L after six months. Another patient had their dose of atorvastatin increased from 20mg to 40mg and saw their non-HDL cholesterol reduced from 2.9mmol/L down to 2.0 mmol/L after five months. Across two surgeries the percentage of patients on appropriate LLT for secondary prevention of CVD was increased to 95 percent.
Looking ahead. With continuous support and engagement through virtual training and an online support hub, continuous improvements in usability and clinical content will be regularly deployed.
1Life Inc
Overview: 1Life addresses healthcare access in the Philippines by using innovative technology to deliver primary healthcare closer to people through the 1Life Field Hospital System and Cloud Platform. This approach reduces the healthcare process from four days to one hour, improving accessibility and quality for communities.
Why? The Philippines struggles with healthcare access due to geographic fragmentation, and the national healthcare system primarily focuses on reactive healthcare, with most free services concentrated in public hospitals, leading to overcrowding and long waiting times.
What happened? 1Life brings primary health care closer to people with its solution consisting of two main components: the 1Life Field Hospital System and the 1Life Cloud Platform. The 1Life Field Hospital System makes access easier for hospital services including digital x-ray, ECG, and ultrasound, thanks to portable features and connectivity to the 1Life Cloud Platform. The 1Life Cloud Platform acts as a healthcare data centre, providing national digital medical records and ensuring that patient information is accessible, accurate, and up-to-date, enabling proactive healthcare management. Data can also be actioned through the command centre’s patient engagement feature and analytics, which can send SMS, educational healthcare videos, and follow-up messages to keep patients informed and engaged. This system helps reduce a typical four-day process to just one hour for tests, consultations, prescriptions, and medicine dispensing. 1Life’s reach has resulted in 455,677 consultations, catering to 373,981 unique individuals. It has dispensed 25,112,617 medications and conducted 959,812 diagnostic procedures, showcasing the ability to provide comprehensive healthcare services on a large scale.
Looking ahead. 1Life plans to introduce AI-assisted doctor consultations, enhancing diagnostic accuracy, streamlining the consultation process, and providing patients with more personalised care.
NHS England, JDRF UK and Diabetes UK
Overview: Now approved by NICE, Hybrid Closed Loop (HCL) is an algorithm which administers insulin by connecting continuous glucose monitor readings with an insulin pump, stabilising blood glucose levels, saving lives and reducing long-term complications.
Why? To help 270,000 people with type 1 diabetes to better manage their condition, avoiding potentially serious complications.
What happened? HCL is an algorithm which automatically doses and administers insulin, linking a continuous glucose monitor to an insulin pump and programming an exact dose of insulin throughout the day and night. HCL’s design and delivery has been a six-decade programme of systematic medical research, anchored in the needs of people living with type 1 diabetes and international collaboration with researchers, industry and regulators. JDRF has funded £115 million in HCL research development with Diabetes UK supporting research across six decades. NHS England worked to ensure there was funding available to run an HCL pilot across 35 centres (paediatrics & adult), working in conjunction with NICE. Data collected from 900 individuals on the pilot showed improvement in overall diabetes control and quality of life. HCL will become the first line of treatment for type 1 diabetes for people of all ages. In England, around 75 percent (170,000) of people living with type 1 diabetes will be eligible for HCL over the next five years.
Looking ahead. HCL will help prevent the risk of long-term sight loss, cardiovascular failure, stroke and kidney failure which is so common in type 1 diabetes.
Sanius Health
Overview: Sanius Health’s predictive Al-driven solution offers enhanced sickle cell disease management and improved patient care.
Why? To help empower patients in their self-care, equip healthcare providers with the information needed to deliver better care, and potentially reduce the frequency of VOC-related hospital admissions.
What happened? Another tool from Sanius Health is a machine learning (ML) algorithm capable of predicting the potential onset of a vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) in patients with SCD. The predictive technology has identified markers for serious health events and alerted patients before the onset, enabling timely action and better health management. This early warning system has enabled patients to make informed decisions and engage in self-care practices that reduce the risk of complications. Clinicians have also benefited from these alerts and curated data insights, supporting informed decision-making and treatment customisation. A range of metrics tracked by the app and wearables were integrated into Sanius Health’s predictive model to generate daily VOC likelihood predictions for each patient in the pilot study. The algorithm accurately predicted 84 percent (58 out of 69) of VOCs, enabling patients to take preemptive measures such as hydration and medication. 66 percent of patients have expressed satisfaction with the Sanius VOC predictor, which has reportedly increased their awareness of bodily changes and helped them plan their days to maintain optimal physical condition.
Looking ahead. Sanius Health is continuing to refine and optimise the predictor to further improve its accuracy and effectiveness.
Next up: browse the entries for the Major Project Go Live category here.
