Posts by: Gillian O'Mahony

ResHub in the media!

  |   By  |  0 Comments

ResHub, a new SaaS app designed to keep nursing home residents socially engaged has been developed by researchers at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), University College Cork (UCC) and Health Innovation Hub Ireland.

ResHub is being trialled in Cork and Dublin nursing homes and aims to improve wellbeing for elderly people in residential care in Ireland.

Check out the latest media coverage for ResHub:

https://extra.ie/2021/07/27/tech/app-geriatric-care

https://www.echolive.ie/corknews/arid-40346294.html

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/saas-app-reshub-nursing-homes

 

 

 

ROSIA to launch Open Market Consultation on 12th July

  |   By  |  0 Comments

8th  July 2021

 ROSIA (Remote Rehabilitation Service for Isolated Areas) partners will launch an Open Market Consultation (OMC), on Monday 12th July. The OMC provides an opportunity for companies interested in contributing solutions to the project to present their ideas.

ROSIA is a European Commission Horizon 2020, Pre-commercial Procurement (PCP) project, consisting of 12 partners across 5 countries. ROSIA’s main objective is to address health care provision shortcomings and advance innovative digital solutions with development of devices and applications enhancing community care services for patients in their rehabilitation journey.

Four pre-OMC on-line events were held throughout June, with presentations given by ROSIA Partners from Ireland, Spain, Portugal and International. 114 companies attended these events which provided an opportunity for information sharing and engagement with a view to further participation in the project. The Irish OMC Event was particularly successful with engagement from national agencies Enterprise Ireland, the Health Innovation Hub and with 13 leading technology companies in Ireland presenting the state-of-the-art in eHealth particularly for patient services in rural and isolated areas, and rehabilitation services for people with Spinal Cord Injury and Acquired Brain Injury.

Pre-OMC attendees who have follow-up queries should direct requests back to the ROSIA Website (www.ROSIA-pcp.eu), or to Maria Bezunartea Alvarez (mbezunartea.iacs@aragon.es) or Sofia Moreno (sofia@valdeinnova.es)

How will the Project Progress?

As part of ROSIA’s ‘Open Tender’ process contracts will be awarded to industry partners to advance a comprehensive, integrated solution/s for European care providers; identifying innovative technologies validated in real life and patient engagement exercises.

A PCP, (pre-commercial procurement) will be used as an instrument to convoke intelligent solutions to problems citizens face; solutions that the market does not currently provide. It has been used in Europe for a number of years now. In a PCP, the public administration is involved in the co-creation process, together with private bidders. The process will inspire a good number of new solutions and prototypes and the two most interesting will be implemented and tested in European regions participating in ROSIA (Portugal, Ireland and Spain).

What kinds of companies are ROSIA looking for?

  • Companies developing technological solutions that could be useful in
  • Companies that provide an open platform able to support these kinds of
  • Companies that manage community services related to
  • Companies that facilitate engagement and

For further information, contact:

Alli McClean, NRH-ROSIA Project Coordinator  |  Tel: 01 235 5132  | alli.mcclean@nrh.ie

 Issued by: The National Rehabilitation Hospital, Rochestown Avenue, Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, A96 E2 H2

https://rosia-pcp.eu/

 

Winners of HSE-HIHI Spark Ignite Innovation Competition 2021!

  |   By  |  0 Comments

Winning health Innovations from HSE-HIHI’s Spark Ignite Innovation competition announced

Funding is awarded to healthcare innovations from HSE staff

17th June 2021. Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI) and the HSE’s Spark Innovation Programme today concluded their HSE-HIHI Spark Ignite innovation competition with a national final. The HSE-HIHI Spark Ignite Programme 2021, is open to all 115,000+ HSE staff across all disciplines and departments. The overarching goal is to help staff from within the health service with a solution to a problem, challenge, or unmet need in healthcare, to validate the need, and determine if a market exists for their proposed solution, product, or service. It is a unique opportunity for HSE staff, supported by the commercial and industrial experience of the HIHI team to develop and to promote their ideas.

Over 180 applications with innovative ideas in healthcare were received from HSE staff nationwide.  Following a rigorous review, 36 finalists were chosen to go forward to a bespoke HIHI innovation workshop delivered by Donncha Hughes (Start-up Hughes) and supported by the Local Enterprise Office Galway. All winners will receive continued mentorship and guidance from HIHI to develop their idea further and avail of the bespoke HIHI Innovation pathway (www.hih.ie).

The 36 finalists received mentorship from the HIHI mentor panel to bring their innovative ideas and solutions towards reality, and to prepare them for the regional pitching competitions. Regional pitching finals were associated with each of the three HIHI offices, Cork, Dublin and Galway, and concluded last week. The 12 finalists in each region pitched to a panel of experienced judges to win funding for the development or implementation of their idea. The judging panel comprised experts from industry, venture investment, Local Enterprise Offices, Enterprise Ireland, public and private healthcare, and academia.

Each regional final awarded five prizes: Best Individual Applicant Overall, Best Team Applicant Overall, both winning €3,000, and then three €1,000 runner-up prizes. The best individual applicant overall and best team applicant overall from each region qualified for the National Final on Wednesday the 16th of June.

The winner of the national final for the individual and team category received a further €2,000 toward their innovation.

The Spark Ignite initiative is funded by the HSE’s Spark Innovation Programme, a collaboration between the Office of the Nursing and Midwifery Services Director (ONMSD), National Doctor Training and Planning (NDTP), the Health and Social Care Professionals Office (HSCP) and the Quality Improvement Team (QIT) to support frontline innovation and quality improvement across the HSE.  The annual HSE-HIHI Spark Ignite competition is one of the key initiatives of the HSE’s Spark Innovation Programme (www.hse.ie/spark).

The innovative projects submitted to the HSE-HIHI Spark Ignite competition included a variety of new products and services with commercial appeal, and healthcare service or process improvements applicable to any hospital or team, home and abroad. All of which have the patient and the care teams at the heart and seek to improve healthcare for everyone.

And the winners are:

Best Individual overall winner HSE-HIHI Spark Ignite Innovation competition 2021

Aoife Collins, a Senior Physiotherapist and Coordinator of Active Back Care Program in the Physiotherapy Department, Cork South Lee PCC, HSE with “The Rapid-Access Online Active Back Care (ABC) Program”. Aoife plans to adapt and deliver her existing award-winning, evidence-based, group-rehabilitation program online via a customisable platform, provided by Salaso Health Solutions.

 On receiving the award Aoife Collins said “I am delighted to win the prestigious Spark Ignite National Award on behalf of The Physiotherapy Department in Cork South Lee Primary Care. To be short-listed in such a competitive contest has given me the confidence to believe in my innovation and drive it forward. Winning this competition has shown me that innovative healthcare is essential to continuously improve HSE service provision, and that Spark Ignite offers the support needed to all front line staff to develop their ideas from a spark to their fruition”.

Best overall Team Winner HSE-HIHI Spark Ignite Innovation competition 2021:

Dr Kevin Deasy (Respiratory Special Registrar) and Dr Marcus Kennedy (Consultant Respiratory Physician and Interventional Pulmonologist) with ”Remote Learning in Bronchoscopy using a Low-Fidelity Airway Simulator “HSE – Cork University Hospital. Dr Kevin and Dr Marcus plan to develop a low cost flat-pack bronchoscopy and pleural ultrasound kit for home assembly and remote learning. Their ultimate goal is to develop a formal, well-researched simulation program encompassing real world and distance learning through remote video platforms using this flat pack simulator.

Dr Deasy and Dr Kennedy accepted the award saying “We are delighted to be selected as a winner in this national final event and thank the expert panel. All presentations were outstanding and it is an honour to present in the same program. We would like to thank the HSE-HIHI Spark Ignite Project Group, Health Innovation Hub Ireland and Dr Andrew Cameron NUI Galway/Feeltect for his expertise and mentorship. Finally we would like to thank our collaborators, Prof. Helen Whelton and Barry O’Reilly, UCC, Prof. Peter Dieckmann, CAMES Copenhagen, Prof. Roberto Casal, Boston Scientific and Boston Scientific Ireland.”

Mr Paul Reid, CEO, HSE congratulated the winners
“Our health service has encountered great challenges in recent times but throughout it all, HSE workers have demonstrated tremendous determination and navigated great obstacles via creativity and innovation. It is more important now than ever before that this approach is encouraged and championed, and I believe that the HSE-HIHI Spark Ignite Innovation Competition is the perfect opportunity to discover new and better ways of service delivery.

“It is heartening to see the increase in applications this year, which aptly demonstrates the commitment HSE workers have to growth and improvement in the face of adversity. I would firstly like to pay tribute to all involved in the 180 applications, which were submitted from a diverse range of areas within our health service, and particularly, to the 36 qualifying finalists. A hearty congratulations to Aoife Collins of the Physiotherapy Department in Cork South Lee Primary Care, HSE, and Dr Kevin Deasy and Dr Marcus Kennedy, CUH, who were the deserving winners of the National Spark Ignite Final 2021. I wish them well in the development of their projects and look forward to seeing them come to fruition.”

Dr Colm Henry, CCO, HSE: “The past year has shown that without innovative thinking in times of crisis, we will perish. Healthcare professionals throughout the country responded by necessity to the great challenges we face: it is indeed true to say: ‘múineann gá seift’. This culture of innovation has been captured by programmes such the HSE-HIHI Spark Ignite Innovation Competition. We have found that not only can we devise solutions with innovative thinking, but we can also implement them quickly in times of necessity. I would like to extend my congratulations to all involved, particularly winners Aoife Collins of the Physiotherapy Department in Cork South Lee Primary Care, HSE, and Dr Kevin Deasy and Dr Marcus Kennedy, CUH. It is with great pride we celebrate such a high calibre workforce.”

Dr Tanya Mulcahy, Interim Director, Health Innovation Hub Ireland, said “It is always a pleasure to deliver this programme to support innovation from our healthcare staff – the quality of ideas and calibre of presentations was outstanding. What was really clear this year was that through the HIHI workshops and support from the HIHI mentors, good ideas of high value and impact were developed”

Dr Alan Hopkins, National Fellow for Innovation and Change, HSE Spark Innovation said “Spark Ignite is a unique interdisciplinary initiative where innovative HSE staff can develop their ideas through a series of workshops with mentorship. The funding awarded to the top projects pitched at regional and national level will help to transform these ideas into tangible solutions that will enhance healthcare delivery within the HSE and beyond.”

In addition to this year’s prizes, special recognition was given by Bank of Ireland to two projects in the form of the Best Innovation in Healthcare Award (Individual) and the Best Innovation in Healthcare Award (Team). The recipients of the special recognition went to Claire Ahern, a Senior Radiographer at BreastCheck West, Galway with “AniMammo”. AniMammo, and Edel Siney (Occupational Therapist), Andy Byrne (Physiotherapist) and Brian O’Ceallaigh (Senior Physiotherapist) with “Upper Limb Rehab App”, HSE – University Hospital Galway, respectively.

 

 

Look who won HSE-HIHI Spark Ignite Cork Regional Final!

   |   By  |  0 Comments

Individual Winner: Aoife Collins The Rapid-Access Online Active Back Care (ABC) Program 

Team Winner: Dr Kevin Deasy/Dr Marcus Kennedy Remote Learning in Bronchoscopy using a Low -Fidelity Airway Simulator 

Runners up:

Dr Paul McCarroll A novel clinical care pathway for the management of acute stable spinal compression fractures 

Leigh Blackmore Cardiac Physiologist led loop recorder implant service 

Conor O’Mahony and Rachel Casey The Posture Post 

Video

See the winners of HSE-HIHI Spark Ignite Dublin Region!

   |   By  |  0 Comments

Individual Winner: Mr Ramy Khojaly A Novel Ankle Range of Motion (ROM) measuring device 

Team Winner: Sarah Louise Killeen and Prof. Fionnuala McAuliffe The FIGO Nutrition Checklist – the first step in pregnancy nutrition 

Runners up:  

Dr Edmond Power, Dr Sarah Taaffe and Prof. Farhana Sharif “Box of Happiness” Resource Tool Kit for Children 

Patrick Healy and Dermot McDonnell Sleepycubs…babies second skin, but your first response 

Clodagh Rooney and Loretta Ratcliffe Targeted Health Care Solutions – IUse App 

 

Video

Check out the HSE-HIHI Spark Ignite Winners from the Galway Region!

   |   By  |  0 Comments

Individual Winner: Claire Ahern AniMammo 

Team Winner: Edel Siney, Andy Byrne and Brian O’Ceallaigh Upper Limb Rehab App 

Runners up:  

Ally Russel, Dr Muhammad Tariq and Maura Rice Helping children learn through play at an early age to manage and control their asthma and allergies 

Jacopo Villani, Ita madden, Mary Kennedy, Ciara Ridge, Mary Byrne, Peter O’Reilly, Petra Daly and Doreen Carpenter Travelling Towards Mental Health Equity 

Dr Muhammad Raheel Garvin’s Colonoscopy Belt 

 

Video

Yellow Schedule makes it possible for expectant mums AND their partners to attend 20-week scans

   |   By  |  0 Comments

New Tech Solution to Aid Expectant Parents

Yellow Schedule has developed a solution to ensure expectant mothers can attend a 20-week anatomy scan with their partners at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH).

Working with Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI) and CUMH, Yellow Schedule created a customised version of its scheduling software to address issues such as bottlenecks related to the flow of patients and consistent and timely contact tracing of patients.

The system works by sending a text message to the expectant mother ahead of her 20-week scan inviting her to bring her partner.  Both then get a Covid-19 screening questionnaire, which allows the hospital to identify any patients with potential risk factors.

A QR code is then sent to both the expectant mother and her partner allowing them to scan into the hospital for the appointment.  This reduces the potential for queues and ensures staff have a record of who has attended.

Article by The Business Post

 

Read how Irish healthcare sector responding to impact of innovative technologies and solutions

   |   By  |  0 Comments

HealthTech ‘golden age’ is born of the challenge of a lifetime

The HealthTech Ireland Annual Conference heard that innovation will lead to a near future where technology is central to personalising patient experience and saving lives

Roisin Kiberd - avatar

Roisin Kiberd

16th May, 2021
5

HealthTech 'golden age' is born of the challenge of a lifetime

Dr Patricia Harrington, deputy director of health technology assessment, Hiqa; Jim Dowdall, strategic advisor, Irish Life Health; Jim Joyce, founder and chief executive, HealthBeacon; Martin Curley, director, digital transformation and open innovation, HSE; Rosemary Durcan, chief executive, Athena Life Sciences Consultancy Ltd and board member, HealthTech Ireland; and Ray Cahill, chair, HealthTech Ireland and territory vice-president international, Change Healthcare
In 2020, facing one of the most challenging years in living history, the healthcare sector had no choice but to embrace innovation, making use of technologies including machine learning, telehealth and remote monitoring tools. The adoption of digital healthcare has accelerated to such an extent that governments are now having to take stock of its impact, and plan for its future.2021’s HealthTech Ireland Annual Conference took place online, gathering experts in the field to reflect on this cultural shift. The programme of keynotes, panels and case studies reflected the sector’s renewed interest in innovation and connectivity; with the theme “Igniting innovation through collaborations”, the conference brought together policy makers, clinical leaders, patient advocates, researchers and other industry insiders to discuss advances made in technology and engineering, and the future of Irish healthcare.

Delivering the morning keynote address, Mike Burrows, national coordination director for AHSN Network, UK, spoke on models for spreading and scaling innovation throughout the healthcare system.

Part of an NHS-funded organisation implementing an end-to-end model for development, support and deployment of innovations at a local and national level in the UK, Burrows outlined lessons taken from their work. “It’s not something that can be delivered remotely; it’s all about building trust, and relationships with teams,” he said. “It’s important that there’s not only evidence of efficacy, but that there’s a solid value proposition there that’s either cost-neutral, or that can release resources.”

David Toohey, CEO of Synchrophi Systems, delivered a case study titled ‘How intelligent automation is changing healthcare’. Discussing the challenges and costs associated with adding more hospital beds, a problem which has long affected Irish hospitals, Toohey went on to discuss an ambitious plan to reduce the length of hospital stays, improve efficiency among hospital staff, and reduce treatment costs through use of intelligent automation.

Cloud computing holds a lot of potential to deliver ‘patient-centric’ care – speaking on the subject, Mark Finlay, head of public sector for the Republic of Ireland for Amazon Web Services (AWS) said that third-party research indicated that “From a cost perspective, our clients aren’t going to invest up front… they can basically turn their infrastructure on and off when they need it.” Citing benefits to scalability and security posture, Finlay said the cloud also delivers dramatic improvements to agility.

Dr Andrew Jones, head of clinical innovation at AWS, said that cloud can also aid in securing mission-critical environments, delivering improved reliability. Remote health technologies, like dermatology scanning software SkinVision, use cloud technology to power their machine vision, monitoring potentially dangerous conditions in patients remotely.

Justin Carty, chief executive, HealthTech Ireland Association; Sarah Murphy, chief executive, iQuest Ltd; David Toohey, chief executive, Syncrophi Systems; and Pat O’Mahony, chair, Hiqa, chief executive, Mapat Management Consultants
Justin Carty, chief executive, HealthTech Ireland Association; Sarah Murphy, chief executive, iQuest Ltd; David Toohey, chief executive, Syncrophi Systems; and Pat O’Mahony, chair, Hiqa, chief executive, Mapat Management Consultants

The first panel of the day was on partnerships, innovation and collaboration models in Ireland at present. “We’re seeing more and more that as we move into new areas, there’s more scope for innovation,” said Professor Martin O’Halloran, co-director of BioInnovate Ireland, naming historically underserved areas of medicine, including mental health and patient-centred care, as areas that would benefit from further innovation.

“Allowing people to participate in innovation often allows people to become innovators too,” said Tanya Mulcahy, interim director of Health Innovation Hub Ireland. “We couldn’t keep up with the number of ideas, and people calling us daily during the pandemic. What was fantastic was that this system – procurement, the general healthcare setting – wanted solutions, and wanted to be involved. It hasn’t gone away, and it won’t go away in future either.”

Deirdre Glenn, head of life sciences at Enterprise Ireland, spoke on the post-covid commercial challenges facing Irish healthcare. “So many companies adapted and pivoted in order to cope with the pandemic,” said Glenn. “Where possible, our clients pivoted into supporting medtech and into the production covid-related products.”

Some developed hand sanitisers and PPE, while others worked on developing a digital transformation programme. “Companies need access to people with regulatory experience, while with Brexit it’s the supply chain.”

Enterprise Ireland fosters a culture of innovation, providing training programmes and supports as well as opportunities to collaborate with the third-level community.

Frank Keane, CEO of Vitalograph Group, delivered a case study on scaling innovation. Discussing the development of a device called the Vitalojack, a system for cough analysis, Keane said “What we learned is that SMEs can diversify in innovation… I think that’s very important. Generalists tend to survive far longer than specialists.”

On a panel on commercial challenges facing health tech scale-ups, Sonia Neary, CEO of Wellola, named access as a particular challenge. “I think it’s underestimated, just how much work and time goes into getting a product safe and ready to sell.. you have to make sure your product is fit for use in a clinical context, and that it’s evidence based.”

Taking this product to market is also a challenge; “What happens to a lot of SMEs like ourselves is that they have to go abroad, and get validation, before they can come back and sell in Ireland.”

Another panel took a detailed look at the process of evaluating new technologies for healthcare. Rosemary Durcan, CEO of Athena Life Sciences Consultancy Ltd and a board member of HealthTech Ireland, said: “I think the way forward is in partnership. The time is now to push how we evaluate medtech under the market access umbrella. If we can identify what values the patient is looking for, and the staff, then that’s a great place to start.”

Jim Joyce, founder of HealthBeacon, said that the first step should be accepting that in Ireland at present there is a problem – and an opportunity – relating to adoption of new health technologies. “There’s a procurement process that was built for another time,” Joyce said, “It’s currently safer to procure from larger companies rather than small innovative companies. There’s a leap of faith required.”

Chris Coburn, chief innovation officer of Mass General Brigham, delivered the international keynote address, speaking on innovation and trying new technologies in the US healthcare system.

“The pandemic has created new opportunities and has accelerated the rate of change,” said Coburn. “It’s the right science, it’s the right team and it’s the right time. This is the golden age, and will be for the next few years.” Investing in 47 different early-stage life science companies, Mass General Brigham has experienced significant success among venture capital firms managed by academia.

Coburn was followed by Mary Day, chief executive at St James’s Hospital in Dublin, who spoke on the process of integrating research and innovation centres on the St James’s campus.

“We’re looking at growth in demand, growth in population,” Day said. “There has been additional funding, post-Covid. Recruitment has increased, but retention remains an issue.” Working towards creating an ‘Academic Health Science Campus’ (AHSC), St James’s recently received a Public Service Innovation Award.

The final panel of the day discussed collaboration and cooperation. Michelle Sullivan, head of public affairs, UK and Ireland for Boston Scientific, said “We’re now at a moment where we need to act, in a less panicked fashion but still at pace, in order to maintain quality of service because so much has changed over the last year.”

Sullivan said that business transformation should come from the top and the bottom of a business at the same time: “Organisations like ours have to be working on the ground to help everyone implement change successfully.”

Neil Dover, country manager of HP Ireland, said that HP has developed a team specific to healthcare: “We’ve seen innovation, some of it forced upon us, and some of it which has changed lives around the world, like 3D printing.”

Healthcare professionals have faced the challenge of a lifetime over the last year; the challenge at present is to retain these gains, learn from them and continue to innovate. The HealthTech Ireland Conference looked to a near future where technology is intrinsic not only to making healthcare more efficient, but to enhancing personalising the patient experience, potentially saving lives in the process.