The HealthTech Innovations Transforming Healthcare and Employee Wellbeing

The rapid adoption of smartphones and the innovations in information technology have enabled digitisation of consumer engagement in many sectors. The need for more convenience and more flexibility is being echoed across every industry, with Covid-19 magnifying the gaps within this space in healthcare. The pandemic triggered urgent responses by governments and businesses alike, with this new reliance on virtual care delivery underpinning a series of technological developments.

What is HealthTech?

By definition, HealthTech is based on prevention and monitoring rather than treatment, with a focus on databases, applications, mobile devices and wearables. It also exists within hospital and medical environments in the form of management software, such as staff and billing management, scheduling appointments, and staff databases.

With a number of tech developers and entrepreneurs now capitalising on the opportunities in this space, HealthTech has become a thriving area for growth. In 2020, VC investment into UK HealthTech reached a record high of $2.33bn, with the UK sector placing third in the world for investment raised that year, according to a TechNation report.

In this article, we shine the spotlight on some of the Remote Monitoring Technologies (RMTs) and wellbeing platforms being developed by the companies across our network of innovation districts.

Building Remote Monitoring Technologies (RMT)

Investments in remote monitoring technologies continue to rise and the automation of healthcare via AI has been identified as a key trend this year. RMTs in particular have the potential to give GPs, community staff and hospital consultants a live and complete picture of a patient’s health status, allowing better management and early detection of acute illness. The use of these technologies can also promote more efficient proactive healthcare by directing health resources to the right individuals.

Rinicare

UK HealthTech startup Rinicare is a clinician-led digital health company focused on improving clinical risk prediction. Based at our Alderley Park campus, Rinicare is continually making more investments in real-time data analysis and recently appointed an AI and machine learning specialist as its Chief Technology and Data Officer to help further develop its impressive portfolio of AI-driven technologies for healthcare.

Here’s two of the data-driven platforms they’re innovating:

Remote monitoring

Designed by clinicians, PRIME™ is a portable hospital-grade solution for continuous vital signs monitoring. Promoted as the ‘complete solution for remote patient monitoring’, the platform takes vital sign readings such as oxygen levels, temperature, blood pressure and heart rate and transfers the sensor readings automatically to a data centre that is accessible via their phone app or web-enabled device. The data can also be transferred directly into the patient’s primary care record for remote GP review.

The data collected could then be used to model the onset of patient deterioration and provides clinicians with access to a complete range of real-time vital signs data that is accurate and consistent.

Fall Prevention

The SAFE™ platform (System to Avoid Fall Events) is currently being developed by the team at Rinicare.

With the rates of falls in hospitals and clinical settings remaining consistently high, leading to longer hospital stays and increased cost of care, SAFE gives healthcare staff a safe, accurate and secure way to monitor their patients who are most at risk remotely and without disturbing them, and alerts staff when a fall is likely to occur.

SAFE has already been evaluated in the NHS and the first European evaluation is currently underway at Odense University Hospital in Denmark.

Improving mental and physical wellbeing with HealthTech

Lowering sickness days and enhancing employee wellbeing is high on the agenda for businesses of all sizes.

Kaido is the fastest growing workplace wellness programme in the NHS, focused on providing innovative technology-driven solutions to promote employee wellness. They established themselves from our Innovation Birmingham campus, joining one of our leading Serendip accelerator programmes in partnership with the NHS.

The Kaido Insights platform uses big data and professional health expertise to empower individuals and businesses to better understand their health, specifically through its ‘Health and Wellbeing Challenges’ that help teams make small positive steps in their health.

Kaido now works with a range of large companies such as Google, the NHS, HSBC, Mind and the Department of Health and Social Care, as well as a number of SMEs.

Bruntwood SciTech is home to an ever-growing network of forward-thinking tech businesses developing new AI driven technologies for use in the healthcare sector. As investment in this area continues to accelerate, we expect to see this community of innovators expand further. Through our unrivalled business support, we provide businesses with the direct connections, infrastructure and support to access funding, talent and business development they need to bring their products and services to market faster than they would anywhere else.

Click here to find out more about our office spaces and coworking desks ideal for HealthTech businesses.