Project Title

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Evaluating mHealth technology in HIV to improve Empowerment and healthcare utilisation: Research and innovation to Generate Evidence for personalised care

 

Project description

EmERGE is a project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant agreement no: 643736.

 

EmERGE has developed a mHealth platform to enable self-management of people living with stable HIV. The platform builds upon and integrates the existing mHealth solutions operated by pioneering healthcare providers in the UK and Spain and applies a rigorous co-design approach to ensure patient and clinician input to the solution.

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The platform provides users a mobile device application which interfaces securely with relevant medical data and facilitates remote access to key healthcare providers. EATG, the European HIV patient organisation, are providing a direct and deep interaction with representative patients and clinicians from 5 EU countries.

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The platform and interfaces have been validated in a large study of 2,250 patients using a tailored HTA process, MAST, specifically developed for the assessment of mHealth solutions including translatability as a key factor.

 

Project aims

Based on prior work showing a high uptake rate and use of mHealth in HIV patient populations, EmERGE aims to demonstrate the benefits to patients and simultaneous increases in cost-effectiveness for healthcare providers by reducing face-to-face consultations, estimated at least 2,250 saved within this study alone.

 

Expected outcomes and deliverables

Patient reported outcomes have been agreed and used in the assessment and development of the system which also aims to increase adherence and enable frailty to be reported using mHealth technology. Innovation has been given priority from the beginning by developing new business models of care provision, targeting key stakeholders in the EU health provider sector, including policymakers and clinicians, while eliciting demand from patients to highlight and initiate the widespread implementation and compensation of mHealth solutions within the timeframe of the project.

 

Policy briefs are being produced to evidence the benefits and disseminate the lessons learned to support the uptake of mHealth for self-management of other chronic diseases.

 

 

Workpackages

EmERGE has 9 workpackages:

 

WP1 has completed situational analysis and background assessment to inform the development of a mHealth platform in HIV - leading partner: ITM

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It has:

• assessed clinical setting and model of HIV care at least clinical sites

• assessed ICT infrastructure and data security requirements at the clinical sites and countries and

• assessed data already captured to assist HE analysis (see WP3).

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WP2 has completed Phase 1 of  a socio technical evaluation of the EmERGE platform - leading partner: UOB

 

It has:

• identified, and shared learning about, the social and organisational factors that facilitate and/or inhibit the development and implementation of the new platform and desired outcomes across different sites

• designed and implemented a context (site)-sensitive co-design process to fully involve patients and clinicians in the development of the new platform in all study sites

• improved the usability and acceptability of the new platform amongst key users (clinicians and patients) through user engagement in the co-design process

• enhanced probability for improved patient outcomes through increased usability and acceptance of new platform amongst key users.

 

WP3  is in the process of  analysing health economic data to enable the modelling and validation of the healthcare economics impact of the EmERGE mHealth platform - leading partner: NPMS

 

It will:

• analyze the cost, cost-effectiveness and/or cost-savings associated with installing the mHealth platform in participating hospitals.

 

WP4 has focused on the platform development and deployment - leading partner: UPM

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It has:

• gathered technical requirements for the mHealth platform, focussing on assessment and validation of individual site API requirements and
  installing the platform at all five clinical sites

• the platform was developed using an agile approach that includes healthcare providers and patients.

• test the application platform and smartphone applications.

 

WP5 is co-ordinating and managing the validation study of the EmERGE platform - leading partner: FCRB

 

It has:

• developed the protocol for the validation study

• facilitated independent ethics committee submission at each study centre/ country

• has monitored recruitment and adherence to protocol

• will co-ordinate safety evaluation and study closure.

 

WP6 coordinates the part on quantitative patient outcomes -  leading partner: BSUHT

 

It has:

• identified the optimal quantitative tools for evaluation of key outcome measures for use within the validation study

• validated these tools if not previously already undertaken in the setting of HIV infection

• identified HIV specific patient related outcome and experience measures (PROMs and PREMs) and to validate these within this programme of research in a pan-European setting

• Co-ordinated data analysis of the above and of clinical outcomes.

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WP7 is developing a commercialisation strategy for the developed mHealth platform for HIV care - leading partner: UOB

 

It is:

• developing a sustainable business model for the provision of HIV mHealth services as a reimbursable cost by stimulation of innovation in healthcare providers.

• assessing the mHealth platforms for commercial development and use in other chronic disease and health areas

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WP8 is the coordinator of the dissemination and popularization of the project - leading partner: EATG

 

It has:

• established a website for EmERGE serving internal and external communication to interested parties

• provided regular updates and sharing of good practice and opportunity for discussion by beneficiaries during the EmERGE programme

• continued to disseminate study results to HIV patient community, the HIV scientific community and the mHealth technology communities.

• Initiated informing policy at national, European and wider international levels of the benefits of mHealth in HIV and potential extrapolation to other areas (geographical including developing countries, other chronic diseases).

 

WP9 is leading the project management - leading partner: MODUS

 

It has:

• optimised the management and communications environment in which the project is performed

• prioritized proactive communication and early identification and resolution of issues through open and effective communications with all stakeholders 

 

Project partners

• BRIGHTON AND SUSSEX UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS NHS TRUST (BSUHT) - United Kingdom

• EUROPEAN AIDS TREATMENT GROUP (EATG) - Belgium

• UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON (UOB) - United Kingdom

• INSTITUTE OF TROPICAL MEDICINE ANTWERP (ITM) - Belgium

• FUNDACIO PRIVADA CLINIC PER A LA RECERCA BIOMEDICA (FCRB) - Spain

• UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX (UOS) - United Kingdom

• CENTRO HOSPITALAR DE LISBOA CENTRAL, EPE (CHLC) - Portugal

• KLINIKA ZA INFEKTIVNE BOLESTI DR. FRAN MIHALJEVIC (KIB) - Croatia

• NPMS-HHC CIC (NPMS) - United Kingdom

• UNIVERSIDAD POLITECNICA DE MADRID (UPM) - Spain

• EmERGE mHealth Ltd (EmH) – United Kingdom

• MODUS Research and Innovation (MODUS) - United Kingdom