Hack Healthcare 2023: Centralised Health Story Memory

Welcome again to this blog post series. After the workshop’s string, we finally reached the Hack Healthcare 2023 event! We want to remind you that Hack Healthcare is not an ordinary hackathon. It is a dynamic blend of creativity and collaborations, where ideas’ seeds grow into real projects to be continued after the event. This power of turning concepts into reality is what makes it unique.

This year’s innovative sessions focussed on challenging insights and brainstorming. During these sessions, the participants sought to share knowledge and insights regarding the current healthcare challenges and translated those insights into actionable ideas. Each participant was asked to select a theme that resonated with them the most.

Subsequently, participants delved into the brainstorming process. The primary objective was to collaboratively generate concepts that, while not fully developed, held the potential for improvement and growth. In groups, the participants were encouraged to refine their thinking into reasonably specific questions or concepts to guide their further work. Questions such as "What will this solution look like in 2-3 years?" and "Who would invest time and resources in it?" guided the process of creating comprehensive solution descriptions and their
anticipated influence on the target beneficiaries.

The following phase focused on validating the teams’ main assumptions. An invaluable contribution came from our “Patient Board”, whose members were patients sharing their rich healthcare experience to ensure that the proposed solutions were relevant and addressed genuine needs.

Once teams had well-defined ideas, they created prototypes. The goal was to present the sketches and vital elements of the final solutions to stakeholders and gather valuable feedback and insights.

After two days of intense work, brainstorming and prototyping, the participants faced the ultimate test. They had to pitch their solutions to a Panel of Experts. These experts provided constructive feedback and challenged the proposed solutions, which sought to explore paths for further development.

Now, let us delve into the innovative solutions that emerged from one of two projects during Hack Healthcare 2023. (About other project, you will be able to read it in the upcoming posts).

The current healthcare landscape features disparate systems, including EMR and HUB systems, lacking effective communication. A proposed solution, the Unified Care Record, aims to harmonise data sharing. At its core, the challenge revolves around a patient's complex journey, represented through the Data Lifecycle. This journey spans stages from planning and design to publication and reuse, involving data management at every step.

The Hack Healthcare initiative sought to blend the energy of a hackathon with the creative spirit of an ideation workshop, encouraging cooperation and understanding among participants to address healthcare challenges. This approach bore fruit in the form of the "Health Story Memory," a response to the complex issues surrounding healthcare data and its accessibility.

Patients navigating the current healthcare ecosystem face various challenges, including emergency access, language barriers, localisation issues, and compatibility problems among competing solutions. These issues result in patients lacking a comprehensive view of their healthcare data, compounded by incompatible EMRs and scattered information.

The ingredients of the Centralized Health Story Memory

To address these challenges, the proposed solution is the creation of a Centralised Health Story Memory. By aiming to improve connectivity between care lines, patients, and their families, this concept aspires to offer a clear, comprehensive overview of an individual's medical journey throughout their lifetime. Key components of this approach are:

1. Medical Institution Data: This involves collating data from EMR systems, encompassing anamneses, diagnoses, treatments, lab results, and general medical files. Clear separation between data and judgment is crucial, particularly for second opinions.
2. Wearable Data: While not strictly medical, wearable device data offers insights into a patient's well-being. Integrating this data with medical records provides a holistic view.
3. Patient Report Data: Patients should have the ability to correct medical errors, add medical information, modify biodata, manage preferences, and contribute to mental health and lifestyle information.
4. Emergency Situations: The Health Story Memory addresses the issue of accessing and utilizing patient data effectively in emergencies. It provides immediate access to relevant medical information, such as a patient’s medical history, medications, and allergies. The project proposes a centralized health storing memory system, which would store and make accessible important patient data for healthcare workers in emergencies.

According to a survey conducted by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), 25% of healthcare professionals believed their patients’ health records were complete. Meanwhile, as many as 82% of professionals considered incomplete or inaccurate health records to be a cause of medical errors. The solution lies in a centralised information source that includes both medical data and well-being information, leading to enhanced disease prevention, accurate diagnoses, efficient follow-up, and improved healthcare outcomes.

The study also revealed that from the patient’s point of view, access and understanding of personal medical information are identified as crucial factors for patients’ health management. The report emphasizes the need for accessible and secure medical records to boost patients’ confidence in managing their health.

This is why, Hack Healthcare’s concept of Centralised Health Story Memory is a disruptive solution. It addresses the issue of disconnected healthcare systems and empowers patients through accessible, comprehensive information. The report underscores the importance of patient-doctor communication and the necessity for one, unified and secure medical database to facilitate informed health management.

In conclusion, Hack Healthcare's innovative approach of merging hackathon dynamics with ideation has given rise to the concept of a Centralised Health Story Memory. This ground-breaking solution directly addresses the challenges posed by disconnected healthcare systems, empowering patients with readily accessible, comprehensive information. The report showcases the importance of patient-doctor communication and the critical need for unified, secure medical records to facilitate informed health management.

If you are interested in the further outcomes of Hack Healthcare 2023, we invite you to stay around and get ready for the next post about "One Patient One Health Care Record for better Care”.