Health Innovation and Digital Health

The Thematic Line (TL) of Health Innovation and Digital Health has two main objectives: (1) contribute to the development of innovation in healthcare, ensuring the societal impact of the research developed at the research unit; and (2) support the digitalisation of the healthcare field, in all of its dimensions, with the goal of improving patient care and outcomes. This TL is committed to use new technologies, methodologies, and processes to address healthcare challenges and improve patient outcomes. CHRC is well equipped to handle the entire lifecycle of innovation, from conceptualisation to implementation and beyond, with experience in translating processes and solutions to industry and society. We believe in the potential of co-design processes and in the importance of bottom-up approaches to make sure everyone, including patients, can innovate. Moreover, we are committed to creating an innovation culture, in dialogue with all relevant stakeholders to increase impact of our research in industry and society as a whole. Digital Health has the potential to support all phases of the patient journey, including disease prevention, screening, diagnosis, and therapy. This thematic line is exploring how wearables, mobile apps, AI-enabled systems, and other technologies can contribute to impact patient care and self-care, leading to better outcomes and quality of life. In some cases, we will deal with legacy systems and electronic health records, which are prevalent today; in other cases, we will deal with the development of efficient, reliable, and meaningful cyber-physical and AI-based systems. CHRC has a relevant track record of developing and studying decision support systems, patient monitoring solutions, self-care apps, and tools to develop health literacy, and will continue to invest in these areas. The regulatory framework of Digital Health is changing, with more and more legislation on Medical Devices and AI; CHRC is interested in exploring how to develop appropriate evidenced-based systems that respect privacy and embody appropriate values. This TL has two main motivations: improving care efficiency and outcomes. Population aging and the deficit of healthcare professionals are motivating cost-effective approaches and an overall increase in efficiency to deal with a higher number of patients with more chronic and mental health conditions. Besides optimizing resource utilization, Digital Health has the potential to transform healthcare by enhancing patient outcomes and fostering more patient centered care. All groups contribute to this thematic area through their projects and research. The group of Data and Health Technology is especially focused in the development and study of new technologies, but all the remaining research groups are sensitive to the impact of digital technology and interested in understanding how digital technologies and innovation can help them increase their impact.