Thanks to the support of Healthware Group as global co-host and main sponsor, and to the conference chairman, Roberto Ascione, Frontiers Health is recognised as one of the leading global health innovation events and has become the epicentre of the digital health ecosystem.

The conference agenda, in its second year as a hybrid physical-virtual experience, will feature partnership opportunities to run custom breakout sessions, corporate events, keynote speakers, discussion panels, plenary sessions, challenges, breakout sessions and more.

Themes

This year’s conference will explore topics inspired by healthcare, including:

Digital Therapeutics
Patent protections, regulatory developments, reimbursement strategies, data protection, open-sourcing healthcare

Digital Transformation
R&D transformation, health insurance trends, consumerization of healthcare, mjedical on-demand models, the connected patient

Telehealth
Patient centricity, remote monitoring, beyond episodic care, mental telehealth, big data & AI

Funding & Scaling
SPAC strategies, digital health IPOs, investments

Tickets

Take advantage of the Early Bird discount to get your ticket – digital or in-person – to attend the most important global event dedicated to digital health innovation!

Buy your pass to keep up to date with the global conference

For those less familiar with the notion of blockchain, this technology consists of a chain of digital transactions (chained digital records) that are incorporated into an immutable structure that is confirmed and verified by the members who share the information. There is no centralized storage of information and it cannot be deleted or copied. Much of the fundamental characteristics of the blockchain reside in its ability to increase the security and traceability of the information contained in the chain, which makes it essential for the digital health sector.

Blockchain includes the potential to revolutionize the health sector, since it places the patient (user) in the center of the scene, allowing her or him to directly control the information protocol at all times, as well as being able to customize the distribution of the personal data on the shared network.

The companies that are in charge of exploiting this technology will have to find a way to adapt to the current operating conditions that the use of blockchain entails in the sector, but notably they will have to provide trust and transparency to users. A similar example can be a pedagogical step that has been taken in the European Union with the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation, 2018), which has created awareness among users about the importance of managing personal data.

In blockchain we host the enormous technological hope of maintaining a single, unalterable and longitudinal record that each patient can demand at all times in terms of security and privacy. This respect is appropriate between the patient and the doctor and the insurance company, as well as any other actor in the health ecosystem.

Applications and benefits

Blockchain has the vocation to be present in most layers of the health ecosystem. The benefits that exist are multiple. The system will make it possible to unify the multiple identities of the patient through different health platforms, giving the user the possibility to decide and control (consent) the access and processing of information by any actor (Despotou et al., 2020).

By unifying the information, registers can be made compatible throughout the different platforms, thus facilitating the interoperability between the systems, a situation that today is a real obstacle. Faced with user concerns about the way their data is processed, blockchain allows the removal of certain intermediaries, and the user maintains the direct access to the distribution list.

Transaction costs can be reduced as a consequence of the reduction in intermediation. Blockchain allows an update of the patient’s information through the different networks where the information has been hosted.

Thanks to the blockchain, the use of smart contracts can be extended in a generalized way by different service providers in a consistent way.

Other applications of the blockchain consist of being able to ensure the validity of drug supply chain, notably in developing countries, in order to avoid the circulation of counterfeit products. This can also help to guarantee the quality of the product and the respect for the cold chain, for example.

Consent, control and access

This giant step for the patient could be revolutionary. Blockchain will allow to identify and authenticate the patient’s and its personal information (eventually, sensitive/genetic content), as well as its registry of medical prescriptions (Zhang et al, 2018) in a large number of health platforms. With one important caveat: Patients may give (or deny) access to different borrowers, or allow limited access to certain information, in relation to particular treatments or pathologies. Annotations, certifications, exam results and prescriptions will be stored on the blockchain. The system can also ensure the monitoring of patients treatments, reminders and, of course, payments for services (transactions through smart contracts).

Some limitations

It is likely that, over time, market players will know how to circumvent the specific limits of blockchain, since currently the system presents some limitations.

One of them is linked to the novelty of technology. The system probably will still have to operate for about ten years in order to fully adapt to the specific characteristics of the market. The use of cryptocurrencies (and, for instance, NFTs – non-fungible tokens – more recently) will allow us to learn in detail the dangers and eventual limitations of the system and the ways to foresee solutions.

An important obstacle that blockchain finds in the digital health sector is linked to the mistrust that large pharmaceutical companies generate in a large part of the patients. Not only as a consequence of the great benefits of these companies, but also because of their dominant positions in the drug market and, little by little, personal data (Pérez Campillo, 2020). Added to this is the lack of transparency in their processes and the monopoly that they naturally exercise in the management of pathologies.

It should also be noted that the mere use of the blockchain does not free operators from cybersecurity compliance. Risks persist, especially at the level of user terminals and providers. Complementary protocols should be established, especially since the current databases will remain in force for a longer time, and it will be necessary to guarantee a certain level of compatibility and security between both systems (Evangelatos, 2020).

Blockchain may allow a democratization of the circulation of patients’ personal information, as well as increasing the user’s power over the final control over such information. At the same time, it is likely that by increasing the level of data in circulation, this could lead to fairer and more dynamic health services. An example of balance to consider will be the next rollout of vaccine passports, which will imply, in many ways, a restriction to people’s individual freedoms (Murphy, 2021).

Blockchain could bring trust and transparency on health data management: companies must create solutions that understand the importance of the respect of personal data and that can be properly used by patients. This will imply the creation of value from the multiplication of data units shared by users via blockchain, thanks to the trust in the system. This can be done on the basis of the understanding by patients that thanks to the increase in the volume of health data, it will be possible to obtain better diagnoses and more appropriate therapies.

The key for healthcare professionals and technology developers will be to reconcile the technological potential with the need for security and privacy of patients’ personal data.

References

• https://www.newmedicaleconomics.es/innovacion-y-nuevas-tecnologias/la-vacunacion-y-blockchain-oportunidades-desafios-y-privacidad/
  
• https://www.computerworld.es/tendencias/la-oms-se-apoya-en-el-blockchain-para-crear-certificados-de-vacunacion-contra-la-covid19
• Evangelatos, Nikolaos ; Özdemir, Vural ; Brand, Angela, Blockchain for digital health : Prospects and challenges. In OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology. May2020, Vol. 24 Issue 5, p237-240. 4p. , 2020 – p237-241
• George Despotou ; Jill Evans ; William Nash ; Alexandra Eavis ; Tim Robbins ; Theodoros N Arvanitis; Evaluation of patient perception towards dynamic health data sharing using blockchain based digital consent with the Dovetail digital consent application. A cross sectional exploratory study, in Digital Health, Vol 6 (2020), 2020; https://doi-org.ezp.em-lyon.com/10.1177%2F2055207620924949
• Heather Murphy, A look at Covid-19 Vaccine ‘Passports’ Passes and apps around the globe.
  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/26/travel/vaccine-passport-cards-apps.html
• Pérez Campillo, Lorena, An approach to big data and health blockchain and their involvement in the protection of personal data Revista de Derecho y Genoma Humano; 2020, Issue 51, p547-567, 21p
• Zhang, Peng ; White, Jules ; Schmidt, Douglas C. ; Lenz, Gunther ; Rosenbloom, S. Trent; FHIRCHAIN: Applying blockchain to securely and scalably share clinical data in Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal 2018 16:267-278 , 2018 – p267-279.
]]> https://www.digitalhealthglobal.com/european-patient-digital-health-awards-pdha-2021-competition-is-now-accepting-applications/ Mon, 28 Jun 2021 08:45:33 +0000 https://www.digitalhealthglobal.com/?p=4189 Calling patient-focused digital health innovators!

MSD has announced the first Europe-wide Patient Digital Health Awards (PDHA.eu), a competition intended to directly involve patients and patient advocacy associations so as to highlight their needs and diverse experiences as drivers of digital health thinking.

Modeled after the highly successful Italian edition now in its fourth year, PDHA.eu 2021 was developed in collaboration with Digital Health Academy to inspire and recognize digital healthcare innovation from a patient perspective. It applauds solutions aimed at improving care and quality of life for patients and their caregivers, particularly those developed collaboratively with patients and/or advocacy organizations.

The competition is open to individuals, patient associations, healthcare providers, scientific foundations, public or private universities and educational institutions, services companies, IT companies, and startups that are located within any of the EU Member States, EFTA Members, the Balkans, and the UK.

Applications must be submitted by 25 July 2021, 12:00 am CET.

The award categories are: Digital Prevention and Diagnostics, Mental Health, and Social Support, New Ways to Interact with Healthcare Teams and Providers, Disease Monitoring and Therapeutics, and Returning to Care (post-pandemic).

More than merely an award, the PDHA.eu initiative bolsters the vital role of healthcare innovation at the rapidly evolving intersection of technology and science, for both patients and providers.

PDHA.eu’s commitment to putting patients first, from the project themes to the judging panel members, truly sets it apart, as do its goals of sparking innovation, connecting patients and innovators, and creating a positive synergy within the communities.

For more information and to enter the competition, visit www.pdha.eu today!

]]> https://www.digitalhealthglobal.com/healthware-international-appoints-paolo-guglielmoni-as-head-of-experience/ Thu, 20 May 2021 16:07:21 +0000 https://www.digitalhealthglobal.com/?p=4140 The role with the team based in Italy will strengthen both Italian and international business

Healthware, an international digital health group specializing in strategic consulting, marketing communications, and health technology innovation, has announced Paolo Guglielmoni as its new Head of Experience.

Guglielmoni has 22 years of professional copywriting and advertising experience, gained during his time with Leo Burnett up until 2012, and from his entrepreneurial and consulting activities since then. He has worked on traditional and digital advertising projects for international brands such as Nintendo, Breil, Kellogg’s, Lindt, P&G, and Philip Morris, where he also dealt with field and experiential marketing. His diverse experience in the creative world and strong knowledge of both online and offline media led Guglielmoni to devise Action Copywriting, a proprietary method utilizing words as emotional behavior activators that is currently the sole neuromarketing-validated approach. His 2018 work for Yves Rocher based on this technique was included in the YouTube Ads Leaderboard.

Awarded both nationally and internationally, Guglielmoni is the only Italian creative present in the advertising art collection of the Louvre Museum in Paris. He is also a keynote speaker, lecturer, trainer, and professor of Advertising in English at IULM in Milan. In 2021, he published “Brand Health in the Time of Contagion,” a book which analyzes the importance of Action Copywriting in maximizing brand performance.

Paolo Guglielmoni, Head of Experience at Healthware International, affirmed:

I’m very happy to be part of Healthware, a group committed to driving the digital transformation of healthcare through innovative communication projects. With my work, I will help brands communicate with a sustainable and circular approach, while maximizing performance and avoiding waste of budget, time, and ideas.

Fulvio Fortini, Healthware International’s Managing Director Italy, stated:

Having Paolo at Healthware reflects our group’s recent organic growth. We believe his professional path is extremely valuable in a historical moment during which the strategic role of ethical and responsible health communication for more accessible, sustainable, and humane health in the future is globally recognized.

]]> https://www.digitalhealthglobal.com/patchai-and-roche-signed-a-deal-for-a-digital-health-solution-in-oncology/ Mon, 15 Feb 2021 15:30:47 +0000 https://www.digitalhealthglobal.com/?p=3961
• In 2020 PatchAi started a project with Roche Italia for a digital health solution in Oncology in Italy.
• The project is the result of the joint efforts of PatchAi and Roche Italia. PatchAi is an Italian based digital health startup focused on improving patient engagement in clinical trials and Patient Support Programs (PSPs). Roche is a major Pharma player in the healthcare landscape.
•  The agreement led to the development of PatchAi for Smart Health Companion, a platform for patients and clinicians launched in July 2020 for a digital PSP in Italy. The solution offers a virtual assistant that engages users through empathic conversations using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

Milan, 15 February 2021. PatchAi and Roche Italia aim together for the digital transformation of the Italian healthcare system with an innovative solution for patients affected by oncological diseases.

PatchAi, the Italian digital health startup that aims to improve clinical research through a focus on patient engagement, and Roche Italia, a major player in the pharmaceutical industry, announce the agreement about the PatchAi for Smart Health Companion (SHC hereinafter) platform for oncology patients, already available from July 2020.

With this dedicated Patient Support Programs (PSPs) solution, PatchAi also enters the area of standard care pathways. SHC is a modular platform used to deliver the Roche Patient Support Program called “Smart Health Companion” and currently it is available in Italy for patients with haemato-oncological conditions.

PatchAi for Smart Health Companion embeds a virtual assistant to engage patients in improving self-management of their health conditions, tracking and sharing daily diaries, managing therapy intake/adherence and generating valuable Real World Evidence via Co-PRO® (Conversational Reported Outcomes). Insights are collected and analyzed to improve patients’ experience, clinicians’ workflows and support care delivery.

The project represents a massive step in driving the digital transformation of Healthcare in Italy, paving the way in facilitating health system sustainability and optimizing healthcare delivery by ensuring patient engagement at every step. During the Covid-19 pandemic, global health systems have been heavily affected on a large scale, causing significant impediments to standard care pathways. For instance, the AIOM (Italian Association of Medical Oncology) reported a -30% drop in first visits for diagnosis and a -36% drop in physical visits during the Italian pandemic. With the adoption of SHC, healthcare professionals can count on a reliable digital telemedicine solution to assist their patients in real time through video consultations, to collect Patient Reported Outcomes and other valuable health data.

Preliminary data on patients enrolled in Clinical Research using PatchAi® platform shows a protocol adherence up to 95%, significantly higher than other digital solutions in the market today and up to 9 times higher than paper-based ones. This result highlights the demonstrated ability to support patients and clinical teams via a modular solution.

“We met PatchAi in 2019 at the Roche HealthBuilders Open Innovation program. Together with many public and private partners in the health ecosystem, we envisioned a solution enabling significant improvements in oncology and hematology care pathways. Our efforts led to SHC, the first digital health solution registered as a Medical Device and fully personalised for oncology and haematology patients in Italy. The evidence collected show the capacity to consolidate more experiential and clinical value for the patient with a positive contribution to the healthcare system sustainability. These are very important results that we are proud of. As a stakeholder of the health system, we will make SHC available to all our public and private customers”, says Elia Ganzi, Integrated Customer Management Director at Roche Italia.

“We are proud to have realized this project, working at the forefront and doing now what patients need next within the digital health space too. With this major achievement, we will work towards playing an active role in redefining and revolutionizing patient engagement within digital healthcare. To enable the transformation of the current health systems, we will be helping medical teams in rapidly and efficiently supporting patients and translate “patient centricity” into programs that demonstrate their reliability and effectiveness from a health-economic perspective based on data driven results”, affirms Alessandro Monterosso, PatchAi CEO and Co-Founder. “This large-scale project recognizes our efforts and our commitment to innovation and value-based outcomes. At PatchAi we strive to stay ahead of the curve by further investing in R&D, data-science, and scaling our solution on an international level”, he adds.

Salerno, Italy, 12.11.2020 – Frontiers Health 2020 – co-hosted by Healthware Group – convenes today November 12^th, bringing together the brightest digital health experts from all sides of the innovation ecosystem to discuss the most relevant aspects of healthcare innovation.

A unique hybrid conference combining online global streaming from the Healthware Life Hub in Salerno, Italy, with local connected physical hubs in Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Spain, Malta, US and Asia providing a complete overview of the world’s digital health landscape.

As health innovators we are up to a huge task. Transforming healthcare. This has never been truer and more needed. We need to hold strong through these uncertain times as much as everyone else, but we hold a greater responsibility. As innovators we carry the torch of science and technology and thanks to the ingenuity of the start-up founders and the researchers, we’ve always been the driving force of any remarkable progress. – comments the Conference Chairman Roberto Ascione, CEO of Healthware Group.

The rich agenda of Frontiers Health offers keynotes by CEOs of start-ups that have scaled globally, panels with leaders from the life-sciences industry, investors and policy makers, plenty of masterclasses and workshops promoting peer learning and sharing of successful best practices.

The conference will also include a series of digital health startup presentations (Startup Discoveries) and provide unlimited online networking possibilities for all the participants.

***

About Frontiers Health
It is a spin-off event of Frontiers Conferences, which designs and produces international conferences about technology and innovation since 2005. Frontiers Health is one of the leading conferences in the digital health space, combining a unique mix of attendees from life science companies, health innovation hubs, insurance companies, investment funds and start-ups, providing for a unique platform to discuss how innovations in their respective fields are converging to transform healthcare. Frontiers Health is chaired by global digital health expert Roberto Ascione, CEO of Healthware Group, event co-host.

Non-face-to-face care has been key to preventing the spread of COVID-19 in patients who have needed healthcare. This is one of the main conclusions of the report compiled by the Esade Institute for Healthcare Management, promoted and fostered by Barcelona Health Hub with the support of Community of Insurance as a strategic partner, and led by Esade Creapolis, regarding virtual health consultation and the benefits thereof for the healthcare system. In fact, the pandemic has accelerated its application within the public sphere and has brought the debate about both the limitations and the potential of telemedicine back to the table. Oscar García-Esquirol, VicePresident and Medical Director of Barcelona Health Hub, has highlighted the need “to consolidate this model of care in a manner that complements face-to-face care once the pandemic has been overcome”.

The study shows the speed with which the system adapted at the start of the health crisis, thanks to the rapid incorporation of virtual medical consultations. In this sense, more than 85% of hospital outpatient consultations in Catalonia during the month of April were performed by telephone or in a non-face-to-face capacity, and it is estimated that the pandemic has multiplied remote visits to primary healthcare centres by a factor of five.

Lack of Legal Certainty as the Main Barrier

“One of the main challenges to be addressed in the effective implementation of this healthcare modality lies in the development of tools and applications that ensure the confidentiality of data and that comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Regulations”, emphasised Manel Peiró, the director of the Esade Institute for Healthcare Management and co-author of the report.

According to the study, promoting the regulation of national telemedicine regulations would provide greater room for manoeuvre and acceptance of its services among its users, addressing issues such as the recognition of and accounting for clinical action, the accreditation of the professional-patient identity, as well as the liability for and the privacy, integrity and protection of data.

Proposals to Consolidate Virtual Health Consultation

In order to consolidate virtual health consultation, the Esade report proposes two lines of action on which to work in parallel, the regulatory and the organisational. Firstly, the regulatory axis would require the involvement of the different healthcare authorities (and other interested parties, such as scientific, patient and citizen organisations) to carry out the integration, changes and modifications to the current regulations, which will broaden the horizon and eliminate the barriers to the effective implementation thereof that currently exist.

“Key aspects to be resolved would be the expansion of the scope of the virtual consultation application; authentication of healthcare personnel and of patients with a robust, easy and accessible system; point-to-point encryption of information and registration in the medical record, as well as access to said medical record by the healthcare professional”, explained Joan Barrubés, the associate director of Esade’s Executive Master’s in Healthcare Organisation Management and co-author of the study.

Secondly, the organisational axis would involve making healthcare organisations, society and all the actors involved participate in the new healthcare modality, as well as the benefits that it would bring. In this sense, the study recommends the introduction of virtual medical consultation within the organisation and time management of healthcare teams and the adoption of healthcare information systems to record non-face-to-face medical sessions. It also considers it important to promote agreements between financiers and healthcare providers to adequately pay for this activity and to train professionals in the use of this type of consultation.

Download the complete report “Study of the virtual health consultation and its benefits for the healthcare system” here

Open Accelerator is looking for innovative, high-tech projects and startups leveraging digital technologies to improve patients’ lives.

The best proposals will take part in the acceleration program with the possibility of receiving a seed investment of up to € 100,000 per project.

The 2020 Call for Solutions

The 2020 Call for Solutions is preferably targeted at the therapeutic areas of the Central Nervous System and Respiratory, with a particular focus on the 4 technological macro areas: Digital Prevention, Monitoring and Therapeutics; Digital Diagnostics; Virtual Health; Clinical Trials Digitalization.

This year, in an attempt to transform the COVID-19 emergency into a growth opportunity for the healthcare system, ZCube is also presenting the Special Challenge concerning new ways of interaction among healthcare professionals, Industry and the community.

Open Accelerator is continuing with conviction into its fourth edition, reaffirming its commitment to supporting young startups, helping  to transform promising projects into concrete solutions for patients – comments Elena Zambon, President of Zambon Spa and creator of the accelerator programme – “Digital solutions have never been such a vital support for patients and caregivers as they have at this time. We have direct experience of this through ParkinsonCare, our telenursing service with a human touch. That is why we have decided to dedicate the 2020 Call to digital initiatives. We are convinced that they will be increasingly important in tackling the challenges that lie ahead in terms of health and the system’s sustainability. This programme is yet another way in which we are pursuing with conviction our commitment to improving patients’ lives, integrating cure and care with a multidisciplinary approach.

After the closure of the Call, on the 20^th of July, the Open Accelerator team in collaboration with a panel of experts will select the startups which between October and November will participate in the intensive 4-week acceleration programme, consisting of tailored online and onsite sessions held in the OpenZone scientific campus just outside Milan.

The Open Accelerator programme

By taking part in the Open Accelerator programme, the startups will have access to a vast international network of entrepreneurs, scientists, investors, Venture capitalists and Life Sciences professionals. At the end of the programme the most promising projects will be awarded a seed investment of up to € 100,000. Finally, any possible synergies with the companies of the Zambon Group will be assessed.

Open Accelerator 2020 Call is one of a kind both- for its focus on digital health technologies and for its pragmatic approach, strongly focused on identifying concrete proposals for delivering solutions to healthcare needs – says Fabrizio Conicella, General Manager and Board Member of OpenZone and Zcube – It is only through the active engagement of existing and prospective partnerships that we will be able to maximize the potential of the proposals we receive and select with a clear objective: to offer to the market innovative solutions that currently don’t exist.

The initiative also leverages the support of several partners, including Deloitte, Unicredit Start Lab, Premio Marzotto, IQVIA Biotech, Italian Angels for Biotech, Portolano & Cavallo, Bird&Bird, Innogest, Evoleen, HUMA, NINA Capital, and Lifeseeder. Discussions are currently underway with other potential Italian and international partners.

We have reached out to Marina Borukhovich, YourCoach Health CEO, and discussed the new opportunities for health coaching in this time of emergency.

M: Health Coaching, while still a nascent market globally and young in its scientific outcomes, is gaining incredible momentum. While the healthcare system is under tremendous pressure around the world, we strongly believe that as Health Coaches we can do our integral part to help our clients stay as physically, emotionally and mentally healthy, happy and in control as they possibly can be.

You have recently published the report “Health Coaching Industry Report: Aiding at the frontlines of health”, can you tell us something more?

M: We have decided to map out the health coaching industry and worked on this report to shed light into the current market qualitatively and, having had access to thousands of practicing coaches, we have also included our insights from the frontlines of the industry.
We have spoken to over 500 coaches and industry experts, we analyzed labour pools, resources shifts and certifications… at some point, we inspected the interfaces of Digital Therapeutics companies and health services and explored clinical trials past and present. The result is a wealth of knowledge that we are finally ready to share with the community.

Thank you Marina, and… let’s keep the conversation going. Download the report and share comments, thoughts and critical feedback with the YourCoach Health team.

Reflections, ideas and analysis of what happened at the Frontiers Health 2019 conference have been collected in the booklet Stories from Frontiers Health, realized by Frontiers Health  in collaboration with Healthware Group.

Get your copy of Stories From Frontiers Health here

Our editorial staff has always been a media partner of Frontiers Health, the global conference on digital health, which every year in Berlin involves over 600 participants to discuss on digital therapies, innovative technologies, health transformation, investments and ecosystem development.

The booklet, available here, collects the contributions of those who experienced the conference personally, both as speakers and as participants, giving a snapshot of the main topics discussed and the ecosystem of innovators that make this conference a unique platform of experience and knowledge in the panorama of health innovation.

Sharing experience and knowledge to foster new ideas

The Frontiers Health team has created and promoted this editorial collection with the aim of fostering a worthwhile sharing of health knowledge and innovation, since the Coronavirus emergency is bringing to light the need to adopt health and digital technologies to respond strategically to the needs of doctors, patients and all of us.

We are sure that this booklet will allow you to know or relive the experience of Frontiers Health and to understand the digital transformation of the health world, as it is proving to be of extreme importance during the current health emergency.