WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS
The Manchester mHealth ecosystem, which launched at the end of September, is the most ambitious multi-partner mobile healthcare initiative in Europe. Adam Hewitt reports.
EuMHA Manchester MHealth Ecosystem members:
Adherence Science Ltd Bosch Healthcare
Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust Greater Manchester Comprehensive Local Research Network
Intel Corporation Janssen Healthcare Innovation Manchester Digital Development Agency NW eHealth
Manchester Mental Health & Social Care Trust MIMIT
RegPoint Ltd Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust Salford PCT Trafford NHS Trust Trafford TPH Ltd Trafford Provider Services University of Manchester
University Hospital of South Manchester Wragge & Co LLP
Projects by Manchester mHealth ecosystem members
Completed: • Mobile point of care for phlebotomy staff • Mobile point of care for pharmacy staff • Automated tracking of vital signs in intensive care unit
• Lifestyle intervention for patients with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT)
• Using mobile to deliver CBT directly to employees absent from work due to mental health difficulties.
Current:
• Mobile technology for experience sampling to support patients with schizophrenia
• Touch-screen devices to manage staff workflow • Smart, self-adaptive environments for falls prediction and prevention to support older people in their own homes
In development:
• Supporting a mobile workforce of health visitors with appropriate knowledge management systems
• Access to patient records for both community and ward staff
• Providing online social networking support for patients with long-term conditions.
Proposals:
• A mobile solution for chronic disease and lifestyle management
• Palliative care support in A&E • Patient focused social networking system providing both peer support and healthcare advice for patients with lung cancer
76 | national health executive Nov/Dec 11 T
he European mHealth Alliance (Eu- MHA) has had a very busy year, with
all partners working hard ahead of the September 29 meeting in Manchester to prepare for the launch of the mHealth ‘eco- system’.
Members used that meeting to approve all the documentation and collaboration agreements and select the first ‘priority projects’. The alliance said that planning is “well advanced” to create mHealth eco- systems in Finland and Spain, and discus- sions are underway with other European regions.
The Manchester launch was the result of a meeting six months earlier, in March – the ‘Kick Off’ meeting – which concluded that the ecosystem concept could bring ‘real value’ to all the members.
The Manchester Informatics team at the University of Manchester call mHealth “potentially game-changing” and explain it like this: “It aims to exploit mobile wire- less technology – including but not limited to mobile phones – to improve outcomes and service delivery in the health and social care sectors and to support healthy lifestyle choices in the wellbeing marketplace.
“It spans the spectrum from improving the efficiency of business processes (e.g. ap- pointment reminders, support for commu- nity-based workforce), to improving clini- cal practice (e.g. collaborative decision- making, online monitoring).
“A key characteristic is ubiquitous con- nectivity, creating the ability to collect real-time information, facilitating access to integrated health data, providing per- sonalised feedback, and exploiting social networking. Key outcomes are more effi- cient and effective care in the hospital and community, greater support for self-care and a more personalised experience for the individual.”
Suppliers, research bodies, and NHS or- ganisations have all signed up to the Man- chester initiative (see panel for the full list) and now the board that’s been established will help guide to implementation its ini- tially chosen projects.
These involve using mobile technology in
a variety of different healthcare contexts – from staff workflow in hospitals, to pa- tient interaction, predictive software, and supporting patients with schizophrenia. Another will offer mobile access to patient records.
They will now be considered for speedy and direct implementation, instead of repeated pilots in particular trusts, as the alliance has found that existing pilots have been over-running and have been expanded and tinkered with so often that they have be- come unwieldy.
This has also meant that wider implemen- tation of the mobile health projects has been delayed unnecessarily.
Organisations interested in mHealth are only too aware of the barriers: from the problems with scaling up smaller projects, to health economic assessments, to access and equity issues, to the regulatory envi- ronment for medical devices (especially EU 2007/47/EC).
Major industry partners signed up so far include Intel, Bosch and Janssen Health- care Innovation.
The EuMHA said the full ecosystem board would meet monthly, and individual pro- ject teams whenever necessary.
Professor Chris Taylor, of the University of Manchester, has promised that the ‘multi- sector partnerships’ enabled by the ecosys- tem will work like “innovation factories” for mHealth projects.
More than 2.5 million people live within 10 miles of the centre of Manchester, and the organisations signed up as members deliver services to more than two million people a year.
The EuMHA said all of its partners have a “vision” that health and social care can be transformed by mobile technology, but know that more needs to be done to move mHealth properly into the mainstream of healthcare.
FOR MORE INFORMATION For details or to join EuMHA: E:
carmel.dickinson@manchester.ac.uk W:
www.eumha.com
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