The role of Digital Health and Care in response to COVID-19 & the momentum for change
The expansion and deployment of digital tools has been a significant feature of the global response to COVID-19. Digital solutions have been used to maintain access to existing services, to provide newly required COVID-19 specific services and, to facilitate communication between citizens and between health and care staff.
The ECHAlliance Integrated Care Thematic Innovation Ecosystem has been set up to facilitate the sharing of good practices, exchanging ideas and gaining new knowledge.
The first Digital Health and Wellbeing Thematic Innovation Ecosystem (TIE) will be a forum to share relevant good practices and innovative approaches on the role of digital health and care in response to COVID-19.
The May 2021 Ecosystem is the first session on this topic which we will cover in two parts. The first session will provide an overview, comparing two Ecosystem members experience.
In September 2021 the second ecosystem session on the Digital Health and Care response to COVID-19 will consider the role of digital health and care in policy and strategy frameworks, and in remobilisation and renewal planning.
In collaboration with the Scottish Government’s Digital Health and Care Directorate and the Scottish Digital Health and Care Learning Network, the Ecosystem will share the experience of Scotland and Slovenia in using digital health and care as part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The session will cover:
- A national perspective, outlining how digital health has been deployed in the COVID-19 response
- Rapid roll-out: how existing digitally enabled services are being extended to support Remote Health monitoring
The outcomes of this first ecosystem session will inform about the objectives and aspirations of our Digital Health and Wellbeing Innovation Ecosystem and opportunities for collaboration. It will also help to gain the knowledge of other regions and countries in digital health and care responding to COVID-19 and accelerate the learning and potential adoption of this knowledge at local and regional level.
| Time | Session Title |
| 5 min | Welcome and Introduction Nessa Barry, Technology Enabled Care and Digital Healthcare Innovation, Scottish Government, UK |
| 5 min | Digital Health and Wellbeing Thematic Innovation Ecosystem Andy Bleaden, Director Ecosystems and Membership, ECHAlliance |
| 10 min | A national perspective – Scotland’s digital health and care response to COVID-19 Dr Margaret Whoriskey, Head of Technology Enabled Care and Digital Healthcare Innovation, Digital Health and Care Directorate, Scottish Government |
| 10 min | A national perspective – Slovenia’s digital health and care response to COVID-19 Gregor Cuzak – Healthday.si Slovenian Ecosystem and International Ecosystem Coordinator ECHAlliance |
| 10 min | Digitally enabled service example – Remote Health Pathways responding to COVID-19 Morag Hearty and Scott Henderson, National Strategic Leads, Remote Health Pathways, Technology Enabled Care (TEC), Scottish Government |
| 15 min | Facilitated discussion & potential topics for future ecosystem sessions – mentimeter Nessa Barry, Scottish Government |
| 5 min | Concluding remarks and next steps Nessa Barry, Scottish Government |
At registration, you will be invited to join our Digital Health and Wellbeing ecosystem.
