Third #EvaluateDigiHealth Webinar series launched

Following the overwhelming success of the 2020 and 2021 #EvaluateDigiHealth webinar series, University College London, King’s College London, the Health Innovation Network, the DigitalHealth.London Generator and other partner organisations are teaming up again to launch a new webinar series this spring.

The webinars are all free to join thanks to funding from a UCL Innovation Network grant and matched funding from King’s College London**, and are targeted at an international audience of digital health developers, researchers, students, clinicians and NHS managers and commissioners. Audience members can join discussions on topics including conducting meaningful user research, doing evidence generation from within a digital health company, how clinicians can find digital therapies and interventions for their patients, and hardwiring evaluation into digital transformation across the health sector.

Webinar 1: How can meaningful user research improve digital health delivery?
Watch now: https://digitalhealth.london/watch-back-evaluatedigihealth-how-can-meaningful-user-research-improve-digital-health-delivery
Incorporating users’ experiences is vital to building and implementing a new digital product or service, and to generating meaningful evidence in healthcare. This webinar discusses how we can work to optimise patient engagement and adopt inclusive practices, to improve digital health evidence.

Webinar 2: Doing evidence generation within a digital health company: What are the challenges and solutions?
Watch now: https://digitalhealth.london/watch-back-evaluatedigihealth-doing-evidence-generation-within-a-digital-health-company
Digital health companies face many challenges when it comes to generating relevant evidence. This webinar discusses these challenges as well as the potential solutions, including whether companies should be introducing a dedicated evidence generation role.

Webinar 3: How can clinicians find the right digital therapy for their patients?
Watch now: https://digitalhealth.london/watch-back-evaluatedigihealth-how-can-clinicians-find-the-right-digital-therapy-for-their-patients
The exponential growth of digital health therapeutics within the last fifteen years, is providing ever increasing novel and efficient ways of delivering support to those accessing healthcare. However, despite there being many products that exist in the digital health space, healthcare providers, commissioners and staff often struggle to identify the most appropriate one. This webinar will seek to answer what type of evidence clinicians should look for when choosing a safe and effective product for their patients.

Webinar 4: Can we hardwire evidence generation into digital health transformation?
Watch now: https://digitalhealth.london/watch-back-evaluatedigihealth-can-we-hardwire-evidence-generation-into-digital-health-transformation
Implementing new and innovative technologies is vital to transform healthcare for both patients and healthcare staff, and having the right evidence to do so is also essential. In this webinar, innovators will share their evidence journeys, focussing on the problems they faced and how they overcame them. Discussion will aim to help innovators from across the sector to identify solutions to the key challenges of evidence generation in digital health transformation.

Professor Paul Wallace, Clinical Director Digital at the Health Innovation Network and National Institute for Health Research London Clinical Research Networks, said: “The DigitalHealth.London Generator is committed to driving evidence generation as a foundation of digital transformation. Following the brilliant feedback we received from the sector after series one and two, we are thrilled to be running another #EvaluateDigiHealth webinar series to discuss the challenges and opportunities in this vital area of healthcare innovation.”

Dr Jean Ledger, Senior Research Fellow, Department of Applied Health Research, University College London, said: “Covid-19 has pivoted health systems towards the wider use of digital health solutions and remote service delivery. Through the #EvaluateDigiHealth webinars we have been discussing how to improve evidence generation to guide policy makers, developers, health professionals, commissioners and patients about what works well in digital health, and why, and where better evidence is needed. This next series of webinars will continue the discussion around how we, as a community interested in evidence-based innovation, can have a real impact on digital transformation in health and social care.”

Lucie Burgess, Founder and Director of Helix Data Innovation and representing King’s for this collaboration, said “King’s College London is proud to be a partner in the third #EvaluateDigiHealth series. I would encourage anyone with an interest in digital innovation in health and care – whether innovators, clinicians, researchers, business professionals or patients – to join us and understand how to put evidence generation into practice.”

Watch back series one and two here.

*Number does not exclude attendees who attended more than one webinar.

**The webinar series is led by Dr Potts and Dr Ledger at UCL and funded by University College London as part of an Innovation Network grant and receives matched funding from King’s College London. The webinar series involves the following additional partner organisations: Health Innovation Network, DigitalHealth.London, NIHR Research Design Service London, ZINC and BMJ Innovations.

The programme is underpinned by an ethos of collaboration and partnership working with the aim of promoting knowledge exchange across sectors and communities in digital health and supporting student learning about current issues in the sector. Watch back series one and two here: https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/evaluatedigihealth