As health technology (health tech) and the role it can play in transforming the health service becomes vital to the future of the NHS, the need for a clearer definition and segmentation of what “health tech” comprises, and the way we assess the different elements of this wide collection of products, is becoming more important.

The recent commitment from Health Secretary Wes Streeting to embed innovation at the heart of the upcoming 10-Year Health Plan demonstrates the NHS’s ambition to use technology to transform patient care.^[1] Yet, the lack of differentiation around the umbrella term “health tech” is a significant challenge; not just for innovators, but also for commissioners and policymakers who are tasked with assessing and adopting new solutions. Without a shared understanding, we risk slowing down innovation that could deliver better outcomes for patients and unlock greater efficiency for the health service.

The Health Tech Alliance, a coalition of health tech companies and bodies from across the NHS and wider health system, believes that a high level taxonomy of health tech is essential, given the eclectic mix of products the term encompasses. By establishing clearer distinctions between the very different technologies we can support innovators in navigating the complex evaluation landscape, help commissioners make more informed decisions, and ultimately ensure that patients benefit from the most effective modern technologies.

Why the term “health tech” needs redefining

It is encouraging that so much innovation is being developed that not only has potential to transform patient services but to improve productivity and efficiency in the health service. However, in recent years, “health tech” has become a catch-all term, used interchangeably with “MedTech” and applied to everything from traditional medical devices to the latest digital health innovations.

The lack of clear distinction leads to something of a “one-size-fits-all” approach to product evaluation and adoption which is neither proportionate nor efficient. For instance, the wide differences between digital apps, personalised products (such as ostomy and continence care), replacement joints and commodities such as lancets, means each group needs a fundamentally different approach to evaluation and route to market.

Some health tech, such as implants or diagnostics, require rigorous, long-term evidence of safety and efficacy. Others, like personalised digital apps or software platforms, should be evaluated more on usability, data security, and clinical effectiveness. AI-enabled technologies are now included in most of these categories, blurring the lines further.

We support the recent call from the Office for Life Sciences for a “formal redefinition of UK HealthTech to encapsulate emerging technologies and reduce ambiguity surrounding what does and does not constitute HealthTech activity”.^[2] NICE and the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) community are at the early stages of thinking about how this might be implemented, but the direction of travel is clear.

A practical breakdown for smarter procurement and evaluation

To streamline health tech procurement and evaluation, we have to move beyond the idea of health tech as a single, catch-all category. Instead, we should adopt a practical, implementable high-level taxonomy across all relevant players that distinguishes between key categories. Through a series of recent workshops with partners from industry and the wider health system, including NICE, DHSC, NHSE and local procurement leaders, the Health Tech Alliance now offers this “straw man” of how such a taxonomy might be developed:

Complex free-standing equipment

A huge range of long-standing and innovative devices including dialysis machines, scanners and so many more.

Commodities

This category could cover a range of both simple and complex devices but those which are generally not patient specific, from simple dressings through to complex surgical equipment. Some will have a digital element, others will not. Clearly the assessment will vary greatly across these sub categories.

Implantables

This will also need further refinement to differentiate between those which have no digital element e.g. joint replacements and those which do, such as pacemakers.

Diagnostics

Including in vitro diagnostic medical devices (IVDs) such as blood grouping reagents, pregnancy test kits, and hepatitis B test kits.

Digital health and software

Standalone software, clinical decision support, mobile apps, and remote consultation platforms. This category includes tools for both prevention and wellbeing, as well as diagnosis and treatment.

Personalised Products

Products which need to be specific to individual patients such as ostomy and incontinence technologies, and some digitally enhanced wound care.

Robotics

An increasing field which requires complex evaluation.

Telemedicine platforms and remote monitoring systems

These technologies facilitate care delivery and often require bespoke evaluation.

AI-enabled and connecting technologies

Software and platforms that use AI to drive other devices, support decision-making, or connect patients and clinicians.

Each of these categories has different risk profiles and intended uses, which means they need tailored evaluation pathways. For example, digital health tools may benefit from lighter-touch, faster approval routes, while implants and complex robotics need more robust scrutiny.

Unlocking efficiency and better outcomes

Adopting a clear taxonomy would enable the NHS to tailor evaluation processes according to the specific risks and benefits of each health tech category. This approach would help streamline approval routes, eliminate unnecessary delays, and reduce costs for innovators. Commissioners would have greater clarity and confidence in their decision-making, while patients would gain quicker access to appropriate new technologies.

A more precise definition of “health tech” is more than a semantic exercise; it is the foundation for a smarter, more proportionate, and ultimately more effective process for evaluating innovation in the NHS. By introducing practical categories, we can accelerate the adoption of new technologies, enhance transparency, and improve data collection and communication across the health system. This will ensure that the most suitable innovations reach those who need them most, without unnecessary barriers. We look forward to working further with all our partners to refine this approach.

By Dame Barbara Hakin, Chair, Health Tech Alliance

References

^[1] 10 Year Health Plan: Building a health service fit for the future

^[2] Unlocking the potential of UK HealthTech report, OLS

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New ESMP platform accelerates move to single view of product information

Improving patient access to life-enhancing treatments is a central mission of companies ranging from the world’s largest biopharmas to early-stage biotechs. Each pursues its own path to get there. For some, the focus is responsibly-priced medicines. Others are amplifying patient voices during the medicine life cycle or using ESG bonds to reach underserved communities.

Patient access to life-enhancing treatments is a struggle without being able to ensure the timely delivery of medicines. Between 2000 and 2018, Europe experienced a 20-fold increase in drug shortages. On average, each pharmacy in the European Union spends more than six hours a week dealing with scarce supplies of medicines; in some countries, they spend as much as 20 hours per week.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has responded to the lack of a standardized EU-wide registry by launching the European Shortages Monitoring Platform (ESMP). In reality, the failure to meet patient demand for specific drugs is not limited to Europe. Healthcare systems worldwide are straining under rising costs. In the U.K., intermittent supplies are causing a medicine shortage crisis that risks harming patient outcomes as physicians ration medicines in short supply or switch to less effective alternatives.

Biopharmas have limited influence over many of the contributing factors obstructing patient access like transportation issues, physician availability, or healthcare funding. Although these may be out of companies’ scope of impact, what they can improve is how quickly they communicate and make decisions when managing supplies. Robust product definitions used consistently across functions, greater control of their data and documents, and an organization-wide understanding of regulatory approval status in each market would all help. Companies that centralize their product information will not only ensure regulators receive timely indicators of imminent shortages but also improve their own capacity for internal and external collaboration.

Earlier warning signs on critical shortages

Drug shortages have many complex and interdependent causes, ranging from biopharma sector consolidation and a limited number of suppliers to government pricing strategies and patent laws for innovative medicines. Such complexity makes it difficult for regulatory authorities to anticipate shortages, with few warning signs when stocks of critical medicines run low.

Having launched the ESMP in January 2025, EMA should soon be able to monitor drug supply, demand, and availability continuously. Marketing authorization holders (MAHs) are playing their part by providing product supply forecasts, availability, manufacturing details, and production plans to both national competent authorities (NCAs) and the ESMP[1].

To ensure that the product data currently held by EMA is accurate, biopharma sponsors will have to correct and enrich their authorized product datasets, either through direct data entry into the Product Management System UI (PMS) or by completing data loading templates with relevant information. As product data still sits across different functions (including clinical, regulatory, and pharmacovigilance), sponsors are getting ready to share information with ESMP by locating relevant data sources within their organizations — and, sometimes uncovering too late that their product information is inconsistent.

Sponsors need full transparency and control of their data to provide accurate sales and supply forecasts for critical medicines to ESMP. Data used to be copied and pasted as text when shared between departments; it should now be captured once at the source and then stored securely in the right format and place. In many instances, this means taking data out of documents and converting it into structured formats. As sponsors increasingly rely on outsourcing partners such as contract research organizations (CROs) and contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs), they need to connect seamlessly when exchanging information externally.

Single source of product information for regulators

In the past, major stockouts in key markets were more common than they should have been, partly because some biopharmas did not know which regulatory information management (RIM) systems held the correct dates for approval and supply. Some companies tried to compensate for the limited connectivity between regulatory, packaging, and logistics by preparing product supplies before receiving the regulatory go-ahead, which could mean an extra step of reworking labels and product packaging if only partial approvals were eventually obtained.

Recent regulatory developments are making a single source of product information a priority for sponsors. Modern RIM platforms can centralize registration data: including marketing status (and dates), product information, active substances, pack sizes, packaging details, and packaging medicinal product identifiers (PCID). Once companies license a product in a market (done by pack), its registration data will be recorded in RIM and become easier to share with ESMP. This can mitigate potential shortages. For instance, if a manufacturer has issues with a product, the regulator can see alternatives containing the same active pharmaceutical ingredient (API).

Post-approval manufacturing changes also lead to drug scarcity. Typically, a large biopharma may manage as many as 200 post-approval changes per product a year — or thousands across its global portfolio. Processing and preparing each change submission can take six months to two years for a company to complete because key systems (QMS, RIM, LIMS, ERP) and data are disconnected. Bringing together the systems underpinning quality and RIM would make it easier to identify which countries and internal documents are affected across multiple markets during a post-approval manufacturing change.

During a drug shortage event, manufacturing sites would not lose time trying to find which specification is registered in each market for each product. Because regulatory and quality teams would see the same product data and documents, quality change controls automatically trigger when a regulatory event occurs affecting multiple markets. Market authorizations in each country would be tracked in real time, ensuring quality teams learn of Health Authority (HA) approvals as soon as they are received.

When different functions and authorities can efficiently exchange the latest data, they can make confident decisions for faster delivery of medicines to patients. As Juhi Saxena, associate director of regulatory and clinical platforms at Moderna Therapeutics, explains: “After connecting quality and regulatory, the data and information required for change control doesn’t have to be requested or sit in someone’s inbox for two days. This has significantly reduced the time required to perform regional impact assessments and send that information on to supply chain and quality departments.”

Centralizing access to data and documents would also improve external collaboration between sponsors, CROs, and CDMOs. Given accountability lies with sponsors, some are consolidating their system landscape and prioritizing partners that can provide immediate access to live data. Contract partners are also doing their part by eliminating manual activities and non-secure external communication (such as email and shared drives) for greater traceability. For example, CDMO Forge Biologics moved toward a connected quality management platform for better compliance and faster turnaround on reviews and approvals with its clients.

Finally, sponsors with a good handle on data quality, ownership, and governance will drive business benefits beyond ESMP. At one global enterprise that initiated regulatory change through its master data management initiative almost a decade ago, the result is that the organization “now speaks one language.” Data integration means quality, regulatory, and safety will all work from the same set of product definitions across the value chain. Having standardized product definitions sets the stage for accelerated batch release decisions by making them traceable to quality and regulatory data.

One shared record, systemic benefits

EMA’s enhanced monitoring of drug availability through the ESMP has rightly shifted the focus to accurate and consistent product data. Getting this data in order sets the foundation for the strategic use of predictive analytics. Sponsors, their partners, and regulators will be capable of predicting shortages and mitigating their impact proactively.

For this to work, greater automation when interacting with regulatory bodies will be essential, both for ESMP and CTIS (the platform underlying EU CTR). That’s because automation supports data integrity by minimizing the chance of human error during data entry or other manual activities.

Seemingly intractable problems can be overcome by breaking them down into their constituent parts. By focusing on what they can control, biopharma companies and regulatory authorities will do their part in helping the industry meet its patient access goals and ensure timely delivery of medicines to those waiting for them.

By Stephan Ohnmacht, Vice President, R&D Business Consulting, Veeva

References

[1] ISPE, ‘European Shortages Monitoring Platform (ESMP): Essentials and Industry Reporting Requirements Webinar’, June 2024

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Barts Health NHS Trust, which serves one of the largest and most diverse patient populations in the country, has become the first healthcare provider in the NHS to implement the medical research tool Anonymise and Export from medical imaging IT company Sectra. As part of wider activity, it means that researchers will be empowered to shed new light on diseases, tailor treatments, and potentially inform the next generation of healthcare AI.

Anonymise and Export has been implemented within the trust’s existing Sectra enterprise imaging solution, a system widely used by NHS diagnosticians to analyse patient scans. The cutting-edge addition will allow for the seamless export of medical images to a secure data environment, with patient identifiers automatically removed. This removes a previously manually intensive process, releasing time for busy NHS teams, whilst addressing crucial privacy safeguards, and dramatically expanding research possibilities.

The de-identified imaging data will be integrated into the new Barts Health Data Platform (BHDP), which was formally launched in April 2025. The platform brings together different types of health information — such as scans, health records, and lab results — into one secure system that researchers can apply to use.

Steven Newhouse, deputy chief information officer for Barts Health NHS Trust, said: “We are now able to provide researchers and clinicians with access to health and imaging data at a scale we’ve not offered before. With robust safeguards in place, this development supports more efficient, secure research and marks meaningful progress in advancing medical innovation and understanding of disease.”

Deployed with the support of Sectra and the NIHR Barts Biomedical Research Centre, Sectra Anonymise and Export opens new avenues for medical research, paving the way for more comprehensive and insightful studies.

Professor Sir Mark Caulfield, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Queen Mary University of London, said: “The NIHR Barts Biomedical Research Centre is delighted to have enabled this ground-breaking advancement in access to medical imaging for research. This system represents a pivotal moment in our field — a true game-changer that unlocks the potential of big data while steadfastly protecting patient privacy. This is an exhilarating time of transformation, and I am proud to be part of this innovative journey.”

Sarah Jensen, chief information officer for Barts Health NHS Trust, added: “The diversity and sheer volume of data being integrated means a significant leap forward in our healthcare data research capabilities. NHS professionals are under pressure as they work to deliver the best possible care for patients. Academics and researchers in continual pursuit of medical advancements, can play a key role delivering innovations urgently needed.

“Now, we can securely and safely provide the data they need on a scale not previously possible, whilst safeguarding confidentiality, and without our busy NHS teams being asked to spend time manually removing identifiable information. The possibilities are immense.”

The technological deployment sets the stage for sophisticated AI-powered analysis of medical images. By leveraging advanced pattern recognition algorithms, that are available within the Azure Cloud that hosts the BHDP, researchers will be able to uncover hidden insights and draw more nuanced conclusions from the extensive dataset.

Jane Rendall, UK and Ireland managing director for Sectra, said: “Healthcare professionals at Barts Health have been at the forefront of innovation with imaging technology for many years – using our platform to diagnose and inform care for a great many patients across East London. This latest initiative takes that innovation to another level, securely and safely harnessing imaging data in ways that could radically change how care is delivered. I look forward to seeing the impact emerge for healthcare and patients alike.”

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However, competition is becoming fierce and with today’s saturated market, it is becoming more challenging for companies to raise funds to stay in the game. Slowing investments, coupled with fragmented UK and European markets, mean that scaling fast is a must to be successful in this industry. How can companies readjust their growth strategy to succeed in the long run?

SAY Communications, a leading healthcare and technology PR & marketing agency, has launched a new report titled ‘Race to scale: Marketing and PR strategies to accelerate growth of remote patient monitoring companies’ which offers insights on how to navigate the increasingly competitive landscape and thrive in the digital health sector.

Stefi Rucci, MD at SAY Communications said: “Remote patient monitoring companies are no longer in a sprint, they’re in a marathon with hurdles. We’ve created this report to help companies build momentum, overcome market challenges and scale with confidence through strategic communications.”

Comms strategies have become essential for remote patient monitoring providers

With investment in the sector falling from a 2021 high of $57.2 billion to just $10 billion in 2024, the report argues that marketing and PR are no longer optional—they are essential growth levers.

The digital health boom may have peaked, but the race is far from over. SAY’s guide provides actionable insights and strategies to help companies succeed in the digital health sector. It includes:

• Trends that are shaping the market
• Growth strategies used by industry leaders
• Case studies of successful marketing campaigns

The report analyses the high impact moves that are helping leading RPM companies scale faster such as mergers and acquisitions, international expansion, and strategic partnerships, and the role of PR and marketing in each of these successful strategies. It includes real-world examples from companies like Huma, Current Health, and Definition Health, showcasing how targeted communications strategies have driven visibility, credibility, and commercial success.

The report also explores the critical role of brand storytelling, thought leadership, and data-driven messaging in building trust with investors, healthcare providers, and patients.

For companies looking at mergers and acquisitions to accelerate their growth, SAY recommends building a compelling brand story as a priority. The agency considers the ingredients of a successful PR programme, including thought leadership, internal communications, and a crisis playbook.

For companies expanding into new geographical, technological or therapeutic territories, refreshing their brand and sharpening messages tailored to each audience will be key, SAY says. Gathering insights from experts in these new territories, supported by the outsider perspective of an external comms agency, will help when building these messages.

For companies looking to forge new partnerships to help them expand their Remote Patient Monitoring business, agencies like SAY can support with crafting partnership comms’ messaging and outreach materials. The report looks at R&D company Camcon Medical who needed to kick start conversations with decision makers at chemical and medical device companies in order to identify potential partners to commercialise its innovative valve technology, which has the potential to revolutionise oxygen delivery in medical devices. SAY worked with the company’s business development team to clearly define the buying personas and the key issues that would prompt them to partner with an external company to upgrade their devices. The agency developed content marketing materials to address these topics and designed a global yet targeted Account Based Marketing (ABM) campaign, by identifying 50 companies to be approached. SAY leveraged LinkedIn ABM tools for laser-focused targeting that delivered high quality of leads.

Federico Marchisio, Associate Director, Digital at SAY Communications said: “In today’s digital health landscape, growth isn’t just about having the best and latest technology – it’s about engaging the right audience at the right time. This report is designed to help RPM companies do exactly that, with bold strategies and clever communications.”

The ‘Race to Scale’ report by SAY Communications is available to download here.

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Up to now, local (country- or region-specific) literature monitoring has been seen as a necessary but inefficient part of pharmacovigilance (PV). The practice is expected if not mandated by many health authorities, being the only sure way to establish that adverse drug reactions and safety signals published in such journals, web sites and/or print sources, are identified and reported. If gaps in routine monitoring are discovered during inspections or audits, this could have implications for ongoing licensing and sales, not to mention market confidence.

At a strategic level, local safety insights allow pharmaceutical companies (as well as healthcare systems) to respond proactively to emerging concerns in particular populations. They might inform labelling or guidance at a country level as appropriate, and help guide ongoing product development.

Critical, but onerous

Despite its criticality, local literature monitoring is tremendously inefficient in its current form. It usually requires dedicated staff at an affiliate or regional level, potentially with local language capabilities and local journal access. Despite the considerable volumes of content being reviewed, local monitoring may yield only limited safety information; errors/omissions are commonplace too.

Because of its resource intensity, local literature monitoring is frequently outsourced to clinical research organisations. The process typically involves monitoring a diverse range of designated sources, listed in multiple, unwieldy Excel spreadsheets where findings are also logged. Assigned teams are expected to monitor several thousand different web sites on a weekly or monthly basis.

The challenge is compounded by substantial variances in the literature format, literature access issues and language barriers. Local sources tend to lack consistency in format, indexing and language, making it difficult to implement a simple unified process, while many local journals require paid subscriptions or may be only available in print.

Additionally, regulatory reporting timelines tend to vary by country, something else that has had to be tracked manually to ensure respective adherence.

All of these challenges above present a regulatory risk, as well as a risk to patient safety. This is due to the potential to miss safety events.

It is a situation that will only intensify, too. With the growing focus on specialty drugs including more personalised and targeted treatments in oncology and for rare disease, including new therapeutics such as CAR T-cell therapies, strong drug safety/PV oversight is essential.

It is for all of these reasons that the pharma industry and its service provider community are looking to next generations of automation technology for an answer.

Advanced automation offers a big part of the solution

So what is prompting process innovation? New technology enablement, involving large language models (LLMs), is proving instrumental firstly in structuring data – enabling “normalisation”, unification, centralised management, and governance of materials, as pharma transitions to “data-first” ways of working.

In parallel, advanced “crawling” techniques are transforming automated browsing, “scraping”, and indexing of content from target web sites and publications. AI can then add a further layer, making it possible to search all of that content very quickly and identify all relevant safety events on demand.

Of course, where patient safety is concerned, there will always be an important role for human oversight and process governance. (Technology-assisted human ingestion is another option, where companies are more hesitant about immediate technology reliance.)

Persisting without automation is hard to justify now, though. Most pharma companies have come to accept that, unless they buy into technology-enabled process innovation, they will struggle with continued operational viability in this challenging world economy. With easy, rapid access to the data they need, on the other hand, PV scientists could focus on the higher-value activities that form the core of their role, even as medical literature volumes explode.

The bigger picture beyond PV

As companies transition away from laborious manual processes in their literature monitoring, the strategic potential lies in the new, richer, data-driven insights they will gain about safety trends.

More broadly, this is an opportunity for companies to better understand the safety trends around their drugs – and at a more discrete level. As well as informing ongoing drug discovery and development, early population-specific insights could also inform the respective healthcare system and patient journey in a given region, with wider societal benefits.

A Biologit white paper further exploring this topic, can be downloaded here

About the author

Jean Redmond, PhD, is COO at Biologit. She is a scientist with 10+ years’ experience in consulting, strategy and general management gained by working with multiple life science offerings and teams at a global clinical research organisation (CRO). Biologit is a specialist in advanced, technology-enabled safety surveillance solutions for life sciences.

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During the general election campaign, Labour said “another top-down reorganisation of the NHS” was “the last thing” it wanted. Yet, less than a year after the general election, one is underway anyway, triggered by the decision to abolish NHS England, impose cuts on integrated care boards, and require trusts to cut non-clinical staff numbers.

The combination of reorganisation and cuts is likely to have a significant impact on NHS IT, as national programmes are moved or stopped, and ICB and trust priorities change. At a recent meeting, the Highland Marketing advisory board shared some early thoughts on the likely impact:

NHS England: cut in half and then abolished

What is happening? As soon as Labour came to power, responsibility for the policy and reform agenda started to shift toward the Department of Health and Social Care, where the team developing the 10 Year Health Plan is based.

In February, NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard announced a “brutal restructuring” of NHS England, before standing down herself. Just a few days later, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced “the world’s largest quango’ would be abolished entirely.

In a follow-up statement, health and social care secretary Wes Streeting gave two reasons for the move. First, NHS England has failed. The NHS is spending more money and has more staff than it did when Labour left power in 2010, he argued, but it is delivering worse outcomes and lower patient satisfaction.

Second, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England are “two large organisations doing the same roles” and “when money is tight, such bloated and inefficient bureaucracy cannot be justified.” Transition chief executive Sir Jim Mackey wants the reorganisation to be complete within two-years.

Highland Marketing advisory board discussion: Highland Marketing advisory board members were shocked by the way the abolition of NHS England had been handled. “The way it was announced was diabolical,” said Ian Hogan, a trust chief information officer. “You have to feel for the way many staff found out” (which was often through the media).

Looking at the longer term, our experts were concerned that the changes have announced ahead of the 10 Year Health Plan. When, logically, a restructure might have been expected after the plan and delivered as part of the workforce and digital strategies that will be needed to flesh out its ideas.

“What was needed was reform, not a restructure,” said entrepreneur Ravi Kumar, “and nobody can see a reform agenda in what is happening.” This, he argued, is bad news for staff and patients, who will need to be onside with any changes proposed.

Nor does it help the suppliers that will be needed to deliver the government’s shift from ‘analogue to digital’ and enthusiasm for AI. “The government needs to give a strong steer to the private sector about where to invest, and that is not coming across,” Ravi Kumar said. “At the moment, all we are seeing is chaos.”

One aspect of the chaos is the lack of clarity about what will happen to NHS England’s digital responsibilities and programmes. Until 2019, most aspects of NHS IT sat with an arms-length body, NHS Digital. Then former health secretary Matt Hancock set up NHSX as joint unit with the DHSC.

Then NHSX was abolished, and NHS Digital became part of NHS England’s transformation unit. Now, it will probably transfer to the DHSC in some form. Although there are other options. Neil Perry, a former trust CIO who now works as a consultant, pointed out that the Government Digital Service has been revamped.

“That could be an opportunity to align the NHS with other developments across government, and to get all the government digital services moving in the same direction,” he argued. David Hancock, a former supplier exec and interoperability expert, agreed; although he also felt the government is “making it up as they go along” and being driven more by finance and headlines than strategic planning.

The centralisation of NHS IT, wherever it ends up in Whitehall, could have benefits for suppliers. James Norman, a former trust CIO who now works on the supplier side, argued it could disrupt existing relationships and create room for new ideas.

“There is an opportunity to put a system in place to open up information [about strategies and procurements] and to operate in a more open and collaborative manner,” he said. Although there’s also a risk that the large, often US, tech firms that can afford to employ lobbyists and sponsor the kind of think-tanks that generate ‘big ideas’ for ministers will become even more dominant. 

Integrated care boards: cuts push consolidation

What’s happening? The abolition of NHS England overshadowed an equally seismic shift in the set-up of the NHS; namely, an overhaul of the functions of integrated care boards, coupled with cuts to their operating costs of 50%.

On his first day back at NHS England, Sir Jim Mackey wrote to system leaders to say ICBs should focus on ‘strategic commissioning’ and population health management, with other functions moving to the centre or providers.

The idea could be to refocus ICBs on their original remit, which was to join up services and drive prevention. Which would put them in a stronger position to deliver the 10 Year Health Plan. However, ICBs will be bigger but weaker and more limited organisations in future.

So, the impact could be to shift the integration and transformation agenda towards providers (creating ‘accountable care organisations’ in the US terminology). Whatever the outcome, cost reduction plans must be in place by October.

Advisory board discussion: Highland Marketing advisory board members were surprised at the scale of the changes to integrated care boards, and the speed at which the conversation had moved from cuts, to consolidation, to a target of just 23-28 ICBs across the country.

They were also surprised at the scale of the reduction in ICB responsibilities set out in NHS England’s ‘model ICB’ blueprint. This indicates that more than a dozen functions will ‘transfer’ to the regional bodies, trusts, or ‘neighbourhood health providers’ – new bodies recommended in the ‘Fuller Stocktake’ that are forming around primary care networks, but don’t really exist yet.

Cindy Fedell, a former trust CIO who now works in Canada, said she was concerned about the focus on savings and reorganisation when policy and structure is still in flux.

“I am really worried about place,” she said, “because ICBs are getting bigger while the neighbourhood idea is still being worked out. We know that a population of around 50,000 (like Bradford, where she used to work) is where you can really make a difference.”

Nicola Haywood-Cleverly, a former trust CIO who works as a non-executive director, also argued there is a danger of a gap opening-up between policy at a national level and delivery on the ground.

“Unless we give leadership to neighbourhood partnerships and direct them to work collaboratively to serve the whole person, families and local communities, there is a risk that we will continue to offer poor and fragmented services to citizens,” she said.

In IT terms, the model ICB document says that responsibility for data will move to a new national body; but ICBs will still be expected to carry out analysis for population health management. Digital leadership and transformation will shift back to providers.

It is less clear what will happen to the primary care IT support that ICBs inherited from their predecessor bodies. The model just says that options will be considered to create a “consistent offer” for GPs. CIOs contacted by digitalhealth.net felt that shifting responsibility for digital to trusts is a backward step.

They argued it will reduce opportunities to secure economies of scale in big IT procurements and reduce the incentive for trusts to pick common or even interoperable systems. However, Neil Perry pointed out the way in which ICBs approach IT is very variable, currently.

While some have IT leads on their boards, most don’t or lean on the CIO at their largest trust. Similarly, only a handful have managed to ‘converge’ local EPR systems, mature their shared care records, or build their own analytics capacity.

So, the model may just be providing useful clarity. “If suppliers were asking me what to do, I would say build a partnership with providers,” he said, “and that is always the case.

NHS trusts: cuts drive job losses

What is happening? Trusts have also been told to deliver significant cash improvement programmes, close a projected £7 billion deficit, and reduce their “corporate cost growth” – or the additional amount they have been spending on corporate functions since the year before the pandemic – by 50% this year. 

Sir Jim has suggested trusts should look at transferring staff to wholly owned subsidiary companies, which get favourable VAT treatment. But the first response of most providers has been to look for job losses.

The NHS Confederation has estimated that trusts could have to shed between 3% and 11% of their workforce; or 40,000 to 150,000 people. NHS Providers has predicted there will still be longer waiting lists and cuts to services, with maternity, palliative care, prevention, and virtual wards in the firing line.

Advisory board discussion: The advisory board felt the cuts that are being made at trusts are symptomatic of the general rush to cut costs before bigger policy and structural issues have been thought through.

David Hancock argued that the 10 Year Health Plan is likely to require more digital, data, and analytics expertise, not less. “The government wants to see a shift from analogue to digital, but that’s not just about buying devices or software,” he said.

“You need implementation capacity, and to be able to optimise and maintain systems.” Similarly, he noted, the government wants to see the rapid take-up of AI and has just put out guidance on the use of ambient listening technology.

That is likely to reduce administrative jobs and tasks: “but we’ll need more IT people.” The model ICB document also assumes that providers can pick up digital leadership and transformation, while reducing headcount. Which Ian Hogan said is not realistic.

“There has been growth in my department, but it has not been ‘unwarranted’,” he said. “We haven’t randomly decided to grow something like cyber security. But from a financial perspective it’s difficult to justify, because the benefit isn’t seen by us, but by the clinical teams, which are protected (even though there has been considerable growth in clinical staff numbers).”

Speed is making a challenging environment even more challenging, he added. “NHS England is wanting to make savings in-year and they are asking for a plan to do it by the end of May,” he said. “But from a digital perspective, there is no low-hanging fruit left.”

The advisory board warned that amid the uncertainty, a lot of experienced people are likely to leave, taking their organisational memory and contacts with them. Trusts may need to look at bringing in consultants and service companies to plug gaps.

James Norman argued this could be a benefit to trusts, if third-parties bring new approaches, partners, and ideas with them. However, this is unlikely to be cheap. Also, it’s not clear that this is what the government wants to happen.

“Everybody is focused on the £7 billion deficit that trusts are looking at this year,” said Nicola Haywood-Cleverly. “But all they have done is chunk it up for each organisation and tell them to focus on headcount reduction. That’s going to have all sorts of consequences, and more of it needs to be thought through at a national level.”

About the Highland Marketing advisory board        

The Highland Marketing advisory board includes: Jeremy Nettle (chair), formerly of Oracle and techUK; Cindy Fedell, regional chief information officer at North western Ontario Hospitals, Canada; Nicola Haywood-Cleverly, a former integrated care system chief information officer, non-executive director for NHS foundation trusts, and health tech strategist and advisor; Andy Kinnear, former director of digital transformation at NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit and now consultant at Ethical Healthcare; Ravi Kumar, health tech entrepreneur and chair of ZANEC; Dr Rizwan Malik, consultant NHS radiologist and director of SMR Health Tech Consultancy; James Norman, EMEA health and life science director, Pure Storage; Ian Hogan, CIO at the Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust; Neil Perry, former director of digital transformation at Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust and now director at Synergy Digital Health Innovation; David Hancock, digital health strategist specialising in interoperability; Jane Brightman, director of workforce strategy at Skills for Care; Jason Broch, GP and CCIO at Leeds Health and Care Partnership.  

About Highland Marketing           

Highland Marketing is a specialist marketing, communications, market access and consultancy agency, focusing on the health tech and med tech industries. We offer an integrated range of services, covering all elements of the marketing mix, to help organisations achieve their goals by ensuring their messages are heard, understood, and acted upon by their chosen audiences. Our highly experienced and well-connected team has deep knowledge of health and care technology, strong contacts in the industry, and is well-versed in delivering effective campaigns and content. We support clients across the NHS and EMEA healthcare markets and work with clients looking to expand from the UK into international markets, and with overseas companies looking to enter the UK market.       

Website: www.highland-marketing.com  X: @HighlandMarktng

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For health care professionals, this trend represents both opportunities and challenges. The key is understanding why social media has become a popular source of health advice and how to adapt.

The Rise of Social Media as a Medical Advisor

A CharityRx study revealed one-third of surveyed Gen Zers use TikTok for medical advice, and 44% use YouTube before consulting their doctor. Convenience plays a significant role. Social media users can skip navigating appointment availability, taking time off from work or school, and attending in-person doctor’s visits.

Along with this convenience comes increased accessibility. Anyone with limited time, mobility or funds might enjoy greater access to health-related advice. Some perceive social media as a cost-effective alternative to traditional health care and insurance.

Relatability is also a key factor in why social media appears to be replacing medical professionals. Seeing younger influencers or other people share health-related challenges or tips can create a sense of trust among internet users of a similar age.

Concerns of Seeking Medical Advice on Social Media

While the reasons Gen Z is turning to social media are valid, this shift has several drawbacks.

Lack of Privacy

Social media platforms are no strangers to privacy concerns. Seemingly innocent entertainment tools on social media like facial filters can make user information vulnerable to hackers.

The majority of teens also feel they have little to no control over the personal data social media companies gather on them. As more users share medical information on public channels, their health information faces greater risk.

Spread of Misinformation

Misinformation — whether unintentional or malicious — can lead people to self-diagnose inaccurately, avoid professional medical care or seek potentially harmful solutions to symptoms. Health care professionals are trained and certified to administer medical advice and offer guidance. When misinformatiation leads to ill-advised remedies or misdiagnoses, the stakes can be extreme.

Lack of Personalized Advice

Health is rarely a one-size-fits-all approach. Various factors — such as genetics, diet, existing conditions, medications, mental health and lifestyle — influence what medical guidance is most effective for particular individuals. While one user might share their experience with the best of intentions, it doesn’t mean their advice will be applicable to someone else.

Biased or Sponsored Content

Many influencers on social media rely on sponsorships for their livelihoods. While best practices require transparency when disseminating promotional content, some influencers may not abide by this, or users might not recognize when content is sponsored.

Sponsored content runs the risk of being biased. Ideally, medical advice should uphold a stringent standard for objectivity to ensure people receive accurate information.

Implications for Health Care Providers

Gen Z turning to social media as a medical advisor presents challenges for health care providers, including:

• Declining primary care visits: As younger generations rely more on social media for health advice, drawing them into physical medical offices will become increasingly challenging.
• Increased demand for digital solutions: Younger tech-savvy patients want the convenience of telehealth appointments, online portals and apps they can access from anywhere.
• Misinformation: Health care professionals are invested in sharing sound medical advice. The spread of misinformation damages their profession and endangers populations.
• Building trust with younger patients: Younger patients may be skeptical of what medical experts can offer them. A concerning 38% of young adults have said they’ve disregarded guidance from their provider, taking advice from social media instead. Institutions will have to be creative and adapt to changes in health care to build trust with younger generations.

Tips for Health Care IT Professionals

With the increase of mental health issues like anxiety and depression, it is essential not to lose touch with younger populations in need of reputable assistance. Health care IT professionals are in a unique position to bridge the gap between traditional medical service mediums and the demands of newer generations.

Here’s how these industry experts can address the biggest challenges of social media’s influential role in medicine:

• Enhance digital presence: Medical institutions should have a presence on the most popular platforms among Gen Zers — Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. They should also follow similar entities online to create connections and get inspiration for attention-grabbing content.
• Leverage SEO: Keyword research and familiarity with the algorithmic patterns of top platforms can boost valuable content and reach the intended audience.
• Partner with health care influencers: This can maximize views and go a long way to helping build trust among Gen Zers. IT professionals should thoughtfully consider an influencer’s previous content to make sure it aligns with their own institution’s goals.
• Provide evidence-based commentary: Along with putting out content, medical facilities should engage with other social media content. This fosters an online community and helps stop misinformation.
• Encourage patient reviews: First-hand positive reviews and client testimonies strengthen an organization’s reputation for quality service.
• Implement virtual access: Telehealth capability is a great way to reach patients of all ages. Mobile apps and virtual health monitoring also give people convenient access to health-related services. From November 2023-2024, 2% of Gen Zers used a mobile health app.
• Personalize communication: Audience research and surveys can help tailor content for specific generations and communication for particular users.

Connecting With Gen Z in the Digital Health Age

Gen Z’s shift to social media for medical advice presents challenges for health care organizations, but it also offers opportunities to modernize access and content creation. Health care IT professionals can lead the way in digitizing these services to reach younger audiences and stop the spread of misinformation.

By Zac Amos, ReHack

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Over the past few years, Generative AI (GenAI) has emerged as a powerful catalyst for accelerating this healthcare revolution. These advanced systems can predict drug responses and side effects, generate synthetic data to fill critical gaps, boosts efficacy, and speed up discovery – ultimately making personalised treatments faster and more accessible to patients.

For instance, two patients with the same cancer diagnosis may receive different treatment plans based on the mutations in their specific tumours or how their body is going to likely respond to the different drugs based on their genetic profile, maximising effectiveness while minimising adverse affects.

Tailoring treatment responses with the power of generative AI

GenAI is enabling better predictions as to how individual patients are likely to respond to specific treatments as well as identifying potentially adverse events before they happen. By training on biomedical data like genomic, transcriptomic, and clinical records, these models can assess a drug’s likely efficacy and toxicity based on a patient’s unique profile. For example, a 2023 study by Wang and colleagues leveraged Multi-Omics Integrated Collective Variational Autoencoders (MOICVAE), an AI model capable of accurately predicting drug sensitivity for 25 drugs across seven kinds of cancer. In a separate study, Shi and colleagues proposed CSAM-GAN, a generative adversarial network based on sequential channel-spatial attention modules able to predict patient prognosis in lower-grade glioma and kidney renal clear cell carcinoma.

Models like these are helping clinicians match the right therapies to the right patients, while minimising risks through earlier, data-driven insight.

GenAI steps in: a new frontier in single-cell research

The rapid growth of single-cell sequencing data is creating new opportunities. So-called single-cell foundation models based on generative pre-trained transformers are able to distill biological information about genes and cells and be fine-tuned for biomedical tasks, like cell identification, even when data is incomplete. Their broad cellular knowledge makes them highly generalisable across a range of biomedical applications. Relatedly, GenAI can also be used to create synthetic biomedical training data that closely mimics the statistical variation found in real world patient data. In the case of rare diseases with few patients, for example, researchers can train models on thousands of AI-generated examples that match the underlying condition – creating more powerful and accurate models. Additionally, these datasets can be stripped of personally identifying information and are thus suitable for publication without fear of violating patient confidentiality.

Advancing the future of clinical development

GenAI offers new ways to identify patient subgroups and the relevant biomarkers, crucial for clinical development and maximising drug efficacy. In cancer and other complex diseases, different patients frequently respond differently to the same therapy. Uncovering which biomarkers (or combination of biomarkers) differentiate treatment responders from non-responders is a key part of precision models.

GenAI excels at finding patterns across complex datasets that are hard to analyse using more traditional statistical methods. CSAM-GAN, for instance, is able to integrate a patient’s DNA profile, RNA profile, and histopathology images to predict outcomes — and crucially, pinpoint which biomarkers drive those predictions, whether a gene, pathway, or tissue feature.

Looking ahead, GenAI could even enable the creation of “digital twins” for each patient. Every available treatment plan could then be simulated with the digital twin to identify how each one is likely to play out. While still an emerging concept, this could one day transform personalised medical care.

Cutting the drug discovery timeline

Perhaps most strikingly, GenAI is accelerating the traditionally slow and costly process of new drug development. Bringing a new drug to market can take well over a decade and costs billions. GenAI has the potential to dramatically cut both timelines and expenses.

GenAI is streamlining and automating stages that traditionally would take researchers months or years. Instead of physically synthesising and testing thousands of possible drugs, GenAI models can generate novel drugs that have a high likelihood of meeting a specific criterion. For example, these models can identify compounds that have a high chance of binding to a particular receptor (say, serotonin receptors) while having a low chance of toxicity.  This narrows down the list to the most promising candidates, reducing early-stage development from years to mere weeks or months.

Helping precision medicine become faster and more accurate

Generative AI is rapidly establishing itself as a cornerstone of precision medicine, fundamentally transforming healthcare from standardised protocols to truly personalised approaches.

More than just a technological advancement, GenAI represents the future for making medicine more individualised, predictive, and efficient for doctors and patients. What we are seeing today is merely the beginning of a profound transformation – Already, generative AI is already helping to identify patient-specific drug responses individually, uncover novel biomarkers, generate synthetic datasets and accelerate drug discovery.

These AI models will continue to grow and adapt to clinical needs, and will become even more capable and impactful across the healthcare ecosystem. The future of medicine sees a doctor and an AI colleague working together running virtual trials based on a patient’s biomedical data, predicting drug responses to personalise available therapy.

The result is transformative: the right treatment, for the right patient, at the right time – through the deliberate application of advanced AI working in harmony with human medical expertise. This convergence promises to reduce adverse effects, improve outcomes, and ultimately deliver on the long-sought promise of precision medicine and truly personalised healthcare.

By Dr. Ilya Burkov, Global Head of Healthcare and LifeSciences Growth at Nebius

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The two companies behind the initiative, clinical analytics specialist C2-Ai and software company Netcall, have already been individually working with significant impact to help NHS trusts, integrated care systems, social care, and housing providers, to enhance productivity and better support people on hospital waiting lists.

A new partnership agreement to combine the companies’ capabilities, could now allow NHS, housing, and care providers to collectively harness multi-sector data in entirely new ways, in order to create detailed risk profiles for individuals that can inform action based on new insights into each person’s needs.

Different organisations are already using Netcall to continually capture wellbeing and wellness measures from individuals in the community through multiple channels, but usually this data remains confined to a single organisation. With the agreement of various agencies, data could now be combined and applied to AI models from C2-Ai, that are already being used in high-impact NHS programmes to find and act for hidden high-risk patients waiting for treatment.

It means, for example, that a person on a waiting list for COPD treatment who reports worsening problems through any one of a range of channels including social media, chat, portals, telephone, or targeted questionnaires, could be identified early as being at high-risk of A&E admission, harm, or complications. This could reinforce an intelligence picture that could help NHS teams make decisions to prioritise medical intervention.

Housing providers and social care teams could also be alerted to intervene to address other previously unknown factors in the individual’s deterioration such as unaffordable heating, or living in poor housing with mould, which could be addressed through effective social housing provision.

And community pharmacists could take informed actions to help keep the individual well, in a co-ordinated approach that could keep the person out of hospital, improving their outcomes and preventing the need for additional costly care.

John Clarke, head of client solutions for healthcare at Netcall, said: “Patients are complex and are rarely viewed as one individual – they are looked at separately by acute hospitals, GPs, community care, mental health services, social care, as a local council’s citizen, or as a housing association tenant. But these services can and should positively impact each other, prioritising resource where it can make the biggest difference, by using the right intelligence.

“By combining up-to-date information from encounters across services and from regular communication with individuals, and then applying new data to AI already helping the NHS to find those most urgently in need, providers can harness a much more comprehensive and continuously updated risk profile.

“That’s what we hope to achieve through our new partnership – to allow region-wide services to make much better decisions in response to the various needs of a person, and to work together to enable better outcomes, reduce health inequalities, and address the recovery burden on the NHS.”

The new partnership is expected to support all three core shifts in health and social care being set out by the government: effective use of digital, prevention of worsening health and rising demand, and better supporting patients in community. It is also anticipated that it could have relevance to healthcare systems around the world.

Dr Mark Ratnarajah, UK managing director for C2-Ai, said: “This could be a seismic opportunity to become person-centric, rather than patient-centric: to understand and enable responses to changing risks by looking at whole person, rather than just the sum of their symptoms or conditions.

“We want to enable providers across different settings to keep individuals safe and well, to keep them out of hospital, and prevent avoidable downstream costs. This is already intuitively a good thing to do for many working across health and care, but is often not possible when a person’s information is held in lots of different places, making it challenging to understand and act on dependencies.

“We look forward to engaging conversations across healthcare, local government and housing, that we hope will lead to new ways to anticipate needs and make effective and efficient use of scarce resources, including human capital by doing more of the right things, at the right time, and in the right place.”

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Healthcare buildings alone account for 15 percent of the NHS’ total carbon footprint, which means reducing emissions in this area is essential. Especially if the NHS is to reach its goal of becoming the world’s first net zero health system. To achieve this, it will have to find new ways to reduce emissions and embed energy conservation into its buildings. Smart technology will have an important role to play in making this possible.

Networking provides a foundation for sustainable healthcare

Advanced networking technology is becoming an essential tool as healthcare organisations work towards their sustainability goals. Networks that deploy greater intelligence, including features like Power over Ethernet (PoE), can significantly reduce energy consumption. PoE allows one Ethernet cable to carry data and power simultaneously, eliminating the need for separate power outlets. This not only simplifies network installations and reduces costs but also supports sustainability efforts by lowering material usage and overall energy demand.

This new generation of intelligent networks provides a foundation for energy efficiency, remote infrastructure management, and smart building controls. As the NHS identifies routes to net zero emissions digitally, the underlying network is emerging as a strategic enabler of both operational performance and environmental responsibility.

Visibility and control with smart sensors

With many NHS Trusts managing spawling estates, often with multiple buildings spread across numerous sites, having a single view of energy usage is essential. Smart systems provide a live, continuous view of energy consumption, allowing teams to identify inefficiencies, respond in real time, and make changes where they’re needed most. These systems integrate with PoE drivers to deliver power to lighting, occupancy sensors, and smart temperature controls, enabling real-time data collection on how buildings are being used.

This data builds a comprehensive view of occupancy patterns, temperature, lighting usage, and overall energy consumption, providing estates and facilities teams with the insights they need to make informed, data-driven decisions. It allows them to quickly identify problems like machines left running out of hours, lighting systems not switching off as scheduled, or equipment consuming more power than expected.

Imagine a scenario where an operating theatre or meeting room remains empty overnight. Instead of running lighting, heating, and cooling systems unnecessarily, smart automation ensures that these services are deactivated when they are not in use. Occupancy sensors detect when rooms are vacant and trigger automated shutdowns, reducing energy consumption without the need for manual intervention.

Over time, this data becomes even more powerful. Sensor data can support automated reporting on energy usage, which will be increasingly important as the NHS tracks progress against its net zero targets. As this data builds up, usage patterns can be tracked and analysed, helping teams to develop targeted energy saving strategies for specific rooms, departments, or even pieces of equipment. The data also strengthens the case for future investments, backed by clear, real-world evidence.

Building a smarter, more sustainable NHS infrastructure

Encouragingly, projects are already underway, and NHS organisations are putting these technologies into practice. PoE drivers and sensors are being deployed across buildings, powering lighting systems, controlling heating, and monitoring building occupancy to support better energy management.

Many NHS hospitals are turning to renewable power sources to reduce their environmental impact and deliver on their greener ambitions. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, for example, is investing £100 million through the Great British Energy Local Power Plan to help 78 Trusts install solar power systems. These installations are expected to save the NHS £8.6 million every year.

Some hospitals are also integrating advanced battery storage solutions, such as DC battery banks, to store excess solar energy. This stored energy can then be used to power critical services during peak periods, reducing dependence on the traditional power grid and lowering carbon emissions.

In another forward-looking step, Trusts are exploring ways to transition from AC to DC power within their networking infrastructure. Most hospital equipment operates on DC power internally, but the incoming power is often AC, leading to energy loss through conversion. By transitioning to direct DC power sources, hospitals can eliminate conversion inefficiencies, leading to lower energy consumption and reduced carbon emissions.

A Greener NHS

The NHS’s commitment to sustainability is not only about reducing energy costs, it’s also about creating a healthcare system that is environmentally responsible and future-proof. From operating rooms and intensive care units to patient wards and laboratories, every part of a hospital relies on energy to function. Managing this consumption effectively is key to cost reduction and environmental responsibility.

Technology is enabling this greener transformation, giving NHS Trusts the tools to monitor and manage energy use more intelligently, adopt renewable solutions, and build greener, smarter infrastructure. Ultimately, this means hospitals can focus on what matters most – delivering exceptional patient care while safeguarding the health of the planet.

By James Leitch, Practice Director – Enterprise Networking and Security at Cinos

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