Morning, Tuesday, 17th September 2024
Online
This conference will discuss next steps for digital health and the adoption of medical technology in England.
With proposals put forward by NICE and NHS in May 2024 to accelerate the adoption of safe and cost-effective healthcare products, it will be an opportunity for stakeholders and policymakers to examine priorities for aligning medical technology developments with clinical needs, and to assess opportunities for regulation to improve patient access to innovation.
It also takes place with further plans from the MHRA for devices certified by approved international regulators to be used in the UK.
Delegates will assess next steps for collaboration between regulators and industry, with the Innovative Devices Access Pathway (IDAP) launched last year, which aims to develop a framework to improve regulation, assessment and access pathways, alongside proposals in the MHRA Regulatory Roadmap published earlier this year.
Those attending will discuss latest thinking on how regulation can keep pace with innovation going forward and how fair access to innovation and treatment can be ensured.
It will be an opportunity to discuss priorities for the new parliament following the general election, with the current government having accepted recommendations from the independent review Equity in medical devices, which highlighted bias affecting certain groups in areas such as research, AI algorithms and functioning of medical devices.
Sessions also include discussion on developing earlier diagnosis with innovative technologies, looking at approaches to safely accelerating the deployment of AI into NHS care, streamlining diagnostic processes and next steps for personalisation of new tech such as wearables for managing conditions and improving healthcare outcomes.
Further sessions assess progress and next steps for tackling barriers to adoption of technology in health systems, including expanding the use of the NHS app across health services, sharing patient records in order to improve efficiency, and the use of virtual wards.
We are pleased to be able to include keynote sessions with: Amanda Begley, Executive Director, Digital and Transformation, Health Innovation Network, South London; Andrew Davies, Digital Health Lead, Association of British Healthcare Industries; Helen Dent, Chief Executive, BIVDA; and Gareth Thomas, Digital Innovation Director, Health Innovation Manchester.
Overall, areas for discussion include:
- digital technologies in healthcare delivery: assessing progress of adopting and embedding digital transformation - key priorities moving forward - infrastructure needs
- regulation pathways: streamlining regulatory pathways to accelerate uptake of innovative technologies - assessing the innovative devices access pathway framework - priorities for patient safety
- tackling bias in medical devices: guidance for regulators, clinicians and developers - patient access to medical devices and digital technologies - patient-centred approaches to digital inclusion
- research and innovation: addressing barriers to funding for developers - options for incentives - supporting innovation to help meet unmet medical needs
- collaboration: opportunities for coordination to accelerate adoption - expanding use of the NHS app and increased record-sharing between services - leadership within ICSs moving forward
- virtual wards: options for expanding utilisation - the role of new medical technologies in supporting NHS bed capacity
- workforce: priorities for education and improving digital literacy within the NHS - workforce ambitions for digital transformation outlined in the plan for digital health and social care
- tackling barriers to adoption: interoperability - improving systems between primary and secondary care - harnessing data and addressing variation between services - digital systems procurement
