Leading with a needs-based approach to digital health

Andy Bleaden

Director, ECHAlliance – the Global Connector

Digital technology is a vital tool to improve communication across the healthcare system. To adopt new technologies, we must address current barriers to adoption and encourage networking platforms to share solutions.

Digital health has been growing in healthcare over the last 10 years. However, there has been slow adoption of innovation, usually blocked by silos within health and social care. Silos come from deep institutionalisation, lack of communication or vested interests and refusal to share good practice, or lack of awareness of innovation.

Adopting an ecosystem approach

An ecosystem approach with multi-stakeholder input can help to break down silos, transform healthcare and create economic growth. Multi-stakeholder ecosystem gatherings bring all stakeholders together and focus on leading with a needs-based approach.

By leading with the need and keeping the patient and citizen at the centre, an ecosystem provides a permanent opportunity to collaborate, communicate and learn.

Ecosystems can be created on a regional or global level. By using ecosystems, we can demonstrate need within a theme such as dementia in a particular region. From this we look at what best practice (or what good looks like) within that region and across our ECHAlliance Ecosystem network. The ecosystem then connects those needs and solutions within a workshop to seek ways to connect, communicate and collaborate together.

By leading with the need and keeping the patient and citizen at the centre, an ecosystem provides a permanent opportunity to collaborate, communicate and learn.

Change to focus due to COVID-19

The pandemic has forced change at a pace and scale not seen before, as solutions were needed to provide remote provision to a multitude of healthcare solutions.

We used our new Pop-Up Virtual Ecosystems to highlight need internationally and bring more solutions from across our network in a number of pandemic related topics such as matching demand and supply, mental health and dementia.

With the field of mental health for instance we could target support for patients, carers and also professionals subject to burn out with a series of solutions that were shareable and scalable.

As these Pop Ups were online and recorded, we could share these across our international network, not only as free and live sessions with feedback, but also shareable video resources that could be served up in a variety of formats.

We promote need and best practice within our community using both our ecosystems and connecting them to our members. Increasingly during the pandemic, we have had to keep adapting our approach and move online at both pace and scale to continue finding solutions across ecosystems.