Digital Health Coffee Time Briefing ☕ 

Your morning summary of digital health news, information and events to know about if you want to be ‘in the know’.   

👇 News   

🏥 The UK government will meet its target to open 160 community diagnostic centres a year early, the Health and Social Care Secretary will announce today. All 160 centres will be open by March 2024, a year ahead of the original March 2025 target – speeding up access to potentially lifesaving tests and checks. In a speech to the Independent Healthcare Providers Network on Tuesday, he will confirm the rollout of the one-stop shops following the hard work of NHS staff and the government’s efforts to maximise use of the independent sector – backed by the £2.3 billion in capital funding. 

📱 NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit (CSU) has procured an Eating Disorder App from supplier First Steps ED for £400,000. The app provides digital support for children who are waiting for and stepping down from eating disorder treatment from ED CAMHS. 

🗃 NHS England is reporting substantial benefits in supporting hospitals and patients from the early use of two data systems that are now being rolled out nationally, a speaker told the UKAuthority AI and Data4Good conference. Ayub Bhayat, the organisation’s director of data services and deputy chief data and analytics officer, described the achievements of the Care Coordination Solution, which includes modules for elective waiting list management, theatre scheduling, outpatients management and referral to treatment validation, and the Optica application, which tracks admitted patients and tasks related to their discharge. Both systems have been developed by NHS England as part of its effort to intensify the use of data tools based on the experience of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

👭 EIT Health Wild Card Programme has crowned Innocens, an AI-empowered neonatal ICU support system, as this year’s victor. Following closely, runner-up Gate2Brain offers a transformative Central Nervous System (CNS) drug delivery method, promising enhanced efficacy with fewer side effects. Addressing the healthcare gap that had previously seen 3.6% of EU children with unmet medical needs in 2021, the Wild Card Programme has partnered with Sant Joan de Deu Hospital (SJD) Barcelona Children’s Hospital and its innovation hub i4KIDS, to shine a spotlight on, and accelerate, groundbreaking paediatric healthcare innovations with the potential to make a real impact on children’s lives. 

🦷 IntelePeer, a leading AI-powered communication automation solutions provider, announced its recent partnership with Dental Robot. In the last 20 years, the dental industry has yet to see significant advancements in its consumer experience. Together, the pair will focus on the two major pain points of the industry: insurance processing and effective self-service. 

❓ Did you know that? 

An AI model can distinguish between people with and without type 2 diabetes by analysing 10-second voice clips recorded on smartphones, according to a study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Digital Health, medpagetoday.com reports. 

📖 What we’re reading 

Artificial intelligence can help health care systems under pressure allocate limited resources, but also lead to more unequal access. This is demonstrated by a research collaboration between the University of Copenhagen, Rigshospitalet and DTU that investigated whether AI can spot the risk of depression equally across different population segments. The research presents options for combing algorithms for bias prior to their deployment. 

🚨 This week’s events 

30-31 October, Business Design Centre, London – Digital Health AI and Data 

31 October, Health Foundation, London – The Future of Healthcare is Digital