Scope

The Institute of Digital Healthcare is a partnership between the NHS, Warwick Manufacturing Group and Warwick Medical School, aiming to improve people’s health and wellbeing through the development, evaluation and use of innovative digital technologies and services.

The Institute’s objective is to improve the quality, safety, accessibility and productivity of healthcare by supporting the implementation of digital solutions for the public, patients and professionals, underpinned by rigorous, multi-disciplinary academic research and a translational perspective in delivery.

Its model of research-led innovation in healthcare entails identifying real problems, understanding them by identifying relevant theories, selecting appropriate technologies and developing new solutions where necessary.

Each solution undergoes rigorous evaluation for safety, effectiveness and cost implications before its diffusion and implementation to the healthcare domain.

IDH is working with industry, the NHS and across many disciplinary boundaries. The Institute employs experts in biomedical and information engineering, health psychologists, statisticians and clinicians with public health, hospital medicine and community health backgrounds.

Some have spent several years working in the NHS, while others have extensive industry and academic experience. This means that the IDH can understand and analyse most health-related problems, and consequently develop, evaluate and deploy innovative digital healthcare solutions.

What challenges is IDH addressing?

• Making sense of health related data to improve public health and clinical knowledge through innovative clinical and healthcare informatics technologies, including clinical decision support systems

• Developing innovative imaging methodologies, trials and meta-analysis in the areas of the diseased and healthy brain

• Implementing new integrated care platforms to measure, analyse and communicate health data to all levels of healthcare delivery

• Promoting wellbeing through patient-empowerment solutions and behavioural change

• Modelling and analysing quality and service improvements of care through systems engineering approaches

• Meeting the information and training needs of clinicians and healthcare technologists