Healthcare Accessibility Solutions

What if we could create more time in the moments that matter? In healthcare, saving time means better outcomes. It gives lab professionals more room to focus on complex work, reduces interruptions for surgical teams, and helps providers stay focused despite workforce shortages. That's why we’re developing smarter technologies to help healthcare professionals focus on what truly matters. Their patients. At our innovation lab in Kemnath, Germany, engineers are fine‑tuning machine assistants designed to take over routine but essential tasks. Two early prototypes already give a glimpse of what this could look like: ▫️ AURORA, developed with TUM Hospital in Munich, assists OR teams by fetching sterile packages and taking on responsibilities typically handled by a circulating nurse. This allows the human staff to stay focused at the operating table. ▫️ Vanessa, a collaboration with Helsinki University Hospital in Finland, can help labs run more smoothly by transporting blood samples and retrieving reagents from the cold storage room. This frees up specialists to concentrate on critical diagnostic work. These assistants are learning to navigate real hospital environments. And with the future integration of large language models, a simple spoken instruction could be all it takes to set a task in motion. This isn’t about replacing human expertise. It’s about protecting it. With a projected global shortfall of 11 million healthcare workers by 2030, technologies like medical assistant robots will be essential to sustaining high‑quality care for patients today and for a world of 8 billion people tomorrow. #TeamHealthineers #Innovation #HealthforAll

NHS app to use AI to determine which service best for patients >> 🔘 NHS England is bringing AI-powered triage into the NHS App, starting with more than 200,000 patients over the next 12 months and aiming for all app users by April 2028 🔘 The tool will ask patients adaptive questions, then direct them to the most appropriate route, including GP appointments, pharmacy, A&E, community services or self-care advice 🔘 The practical target is the familiar 8am GP (PCP) bottleneck. In an early Sussex pilot, the number of people queuing on the phone for appointments fell by 29%, while patient satisfaction was maintained 🔘 This is not being framed as AI replacing clinical judgement. The more interesting claim is that AI can collect and structure patient information earlier, so clinicians can focus time where human judgement matters most 🔘NHS England is also expanding AI notetaking, using ambient voice technology to generate consultation summaries. A London trial found staff spent almost 25% more time interacting with patients when using the tool 🔘The key test will not be whether the technology sounds impressive, but whether it is safe, inclusive and trusted. Patient confidentiality, digital exclusion, bias, basic IT infrastructure and clear human decision points will matter more than the AI itself #digitalhealth #ai #nhs

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 = 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦. 🚑 There is a difference between a tool that responds and one that genuinely knows you. Mo, our AI health companion inside the Alan app, knows your history, your past claims, your family, your past interactions with our medical team. That context is what turns a chatbot into something closer to a real health partner. But what I find most powerful isn't what Mo knows. It's what Mo does with it. A member recently shared a story with us. A mother had noticed a worrying pattern in her toddler's behaviour. She asked Mo questions. Mo helped reassure her. And then, the next day, without being prompted Mo asked: "Did that pattern you noticed in your toddler improve, or is it still there?" She said it was still there. Mo brought a paediatrician into the conversation. The paediatrician said: go to see a doctor now. Mo booked the appointment that same day. And followed up afterwards. Without that, this member might have waited two, three, maybe four more days. And would have likely ended up in urgent care. . That is the kind of story that reminds me why we built this. Not to replace doctors – but to make sure that when something matters, you don't fall through the cracks. Mo can book appointments, build personalised health plans, escalate seamlessly to a doctor who already has your full context. It's not AI instead of human care. It's AI that makes human care faster, smarter, and more connected. #DoctorAI #HealthTech #BuiltInEurope #ProductDevelopment #Alan

Numerous interviews by the United Nations Task Force on #NCDs #UNIATF with people with lived of experience of non-communicable diseases #NCDs and #mentalhealth conditions showed general consensus that #digital solutions, when used appropriately, are beneficial and empowering and increase people’s agency over their #health All the participants used digital #technology to manage their conditions, from search engines for access to health information to #telemedicine for interaction with health providers and applications for self-management Their health-seeking behaviour also improved; for a person living with #dementia, virtual consultations overcame their #anxiety in asking for advice from a practitioner, and solutions such as mobile messaging provided discreet access to support #Digital solutions also gave them more support from advocates and carers; for example, for a parent of a #child living with type 1 #T1D diabetes, remote monitoring of glucose levels averts potential crises They also described concerns and challenges, such as limited interaction with health providers and feeling less supported, especially for an initial consultation when a relationship with a #health worker had not yet been built. Digital technology was considered a barrier to access to health care in areas with unreliable Internet coverage or with high connection costs The following solutions were proposed: • a centralized catalogue of evidence-based solutions with demonstrated health benefits, drawn up by specialists. This would also be helpful for health-care professionals • enforcement of standards and regulations to safeguard patients’ data, privacy and well-being • co-development of solutions and strategic frameworks with patients and their advocates. Technology developers and policymakers should create an advisory group, including people with lived experience • coordination of culture change in health care with digital health by sensitization to the value of digital technology to empower patients and digital literacy training to ensure uptake by health workers • partnerships between Internet and telecom providers and governments or health providers to increase access to technology and ensure equitable coverage with digital health for all communities To fully realize the benefits of digital technology for patients, there must be meaningful engagement from the outset. People with lived experience should be systematically involved in developing solutions, policies and strategies A collective effort is required to accelerate the reach and impact of digital solutions for more patients in a responsible, #equitable way, regardless of #education, #ability, #economic level or #location Guy Fones Alexey Kulikov Jeremy Farrar Alain Labrique World Health Organization   https://lnkd.in/eQDBv9cN

AI can quietly fix the gaps your clinicians see every day. Mental health waiting lists stretch for months. Women's health concerns get dismissed or overlooked. The system struggles to meet demand. This is where AI-driven platforms step in. Mood tracking tools monitor patterns that might take weeks to surface in traditional therapy sessions. Crisis intervention systems provide immediate support when human resources are stretched thin. Gender-specific health monitoring catches early warning signs that often slip through routine appointments. These platforms offer something your current infrastructure might struggle to provide: accessibility. A woman experiencing postpartum anxiety at 2am gets real-time support. A patient in a rural area tracks symptoms that inform their next specialist visit. Someone hesitant about traditional therapy finds a low-barrier entry point to mental health care. The technology handles what it does best: continuous monitoring, pattern recognition, data collection. Your clinicians handle what they do best: personalized care, complex decision-making, human connection. I spoke with a healthcare administrator last week. She was skeptical about AI in these sensitive areas. After exploring the applications, she realized something important. AI tools free up her clinical team to focus on the patients who need them most. The platforms handle routine monitoring and early intervention. Her specialists tackle the complex cases requiring human expertise. This approach reaches underserved populations who face the biggest barriers to care. It delivers tailored solutions at scale. It turns healthcare from reactive to proactive. The question becomes: how can you integrate these tools to amplify your existing care delivery?

I selected my hip surgeon largely because of his integration of technology into his patient workflow. When I went to book appointments with other orthopedic surgeons, I had to wait on the phone for long periods and was asked to fax, yes FAX!, my referral. My surgeon had an automated booking system linked with a digital patient portal - everything uploaded, secure, and available in one single source of truth. He employs 3D modeling to plan surgical options, uses robots and real-time imaging to augment his surgical procedures and improve precision, and leverages voice technology to automatically transcribe his clinical observations and patient notes in real time. He also uses software automation to provide me with alerts and send automatic updates to my physio and GP. Telehealth appointments, supported with photographs for postoperative wound care and pre-operative check-ins, were seamlessly integrated into his practice. All this technology enables the surgeon to practice being human during our personal interactions and massively improved the patient experience. Think about this in terms of the services we provide in health and safety. We serve our customers (the workers, managers, regulators), but how can we leverage tech to improve the design and experience of that service? Let me know your thoughts in the comments. #SafetyTech #SafetyInnovation #ServiceDesign #Safety #Technology

🎉 Happy to share our paper evaluating an LLM-enhanced digital health tool, MEGI, for #hypertension management: 💗 This is one of the first study to evaluate a real-world use case of #LLMs in a big population Our research analysed 5,136 users of MEGI, an LLM-enhanced chatbot for home blood pressure reporting and monitoring. Users can interact with MEGI via natural language and MEGI then provides real-time feedback and reminds patients to take their medication. Key findings: 🔹 50.3% user retention after 1 year (63.1% for self-reported hypertensive users), this is an astounding retention rate for context most mobile games have a retention rate of <5% in 1 month! 🔹Use of MEGI was associated with a statistically significant reduction in systolic blood pressure (SBP) (p<0.05). 🔹 There was a positive correlation between SBP reduction and duration of use of MEGI (Spearman's ρ=0.53, p<0.05) 🔹 A subsample user survey (n=125) result showed: -98% found tool useful for regular BP monitoring -90% reported reduced anxiety and increased safety feeling -80% indicated improved habit formation for BP measurement So what does this all mean? 💰 This research demonstrates that an LLM enhanced tool is widely accepted and usable by a large cohort of patients. The retention rate is excellent and reinforces this point. 💰 The correlation between BP reduction and app usage is promising, it is important to say that this may not be a causative effect from the app itself, but could be from enhanced medication compliance and following lifestyle advice from Megi. 💰 Surprising feedback from users is that they felt less anxious and more safe with MEGI, this is one of the benefits of having a 24 hour #AI companion Future steps would include evaluating how LLM-patient interactions affect their behaviour and clinical outcomes. It was great to collaborate with such an amazing team Alan Jelić Luka Rotkvić Luka P. Nina Sesto, PhD Zeljko K. Amos Folarin Richard Dobson Petroula Laiou -------------------------- 👋 Join Dev and Doc: AI for healthcare for the latest news, education, and deep dives in AI for healthcare!🤖👨🏻⚕️ LinkedIn Newsletter https://lnkd.in/eRXECsFC YT - https://lnkd.in/ey3mxsuN Spotify - https://lnkd.in/ecFRTN9R Apple- https://lnkd.in/ewJ8Yntt Substack- https://lnkd.in/e_XV4Pbz

📊Digital tools boosts adherence to oral cancer therapy by 40%. A meta-analysis of 13 trials across leukemia, breast-, gastric cancers, multiple myeloma, and more shows that digital health companion apps - with reminders, symptom tracking, side-effect support, and lifestyle guidance - help patients stay on oral cancer therapy and sustain outcomes. Oral cancer therapies now makes up 25% of oncology prescriptions, yet adherence ranges from 16-100%. Nonadherence costs 8% of global health spend, and almost half of patients forget doctors’ instructions immediately. W𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐚 & 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬: Scalable, patient-centric, and personalised digital companions strengthens therapy value, real-world performance, and market impact. Those who embed it now will set the standard for outcomes-driven oncology. 🔗Link to study in comments

This paper explores the transformative impact of wearables and AI on healthcare workflows and patient care, focusing on enhanced efficiency, personalization, and cost-effectiveness. 1️⃣ IoMT (Internet of Medical Things) market is rapidly growing, projected to increase from $50.3 billion in 2020 to $135.87 billion by 2025, highlighting a significant shift toward digital health adoption. 2️⃣ Wearables have diverse applications, monitoring both biological factors (e.g., saliva, sweat) and utility-based measurements (e.g., smart fabrics, implants) to enhance patient data collection. 3️⃣ Real-time monitoring through wearables and AI supports early disease detection and continuous tracking, facilitating better treatment adherence and fewer hospital visits. 4️⃣ Patient interest in remote monitoring is strong, with 79% willing to use mobile ECG tools, and 74% feeling safer with constant monitoring, demonstrating growing acceptance of self-managed care. 5️⃣ AI-assisted monitoring with wearable sensors achieves high accuracy, including 97% accuracy in detecting atrial fibrillation, outperforming traditional methods. 6️⃣ AI models like deep learning and neural networks enable predictive diagnostics and personalized treatments, demonstrating 80% accuracy for heart disease, 80% for blood infections, and 94% for cancer detection. 7️⃣ Integration challenges include data management, EHR integration, privacy, bias, and transparency, all of which must be addressed to foster trust among healthcare providers and patients. 8️⃣ Automation potential is significant, with AI transforming tasks like medical billing, coding, and lab workflows, reducing errors and freeing up resources for patient care. 9️⃣ Future healthcare will increasingly depend on AI and wearables, reshaping patient management, especially for aging populations, and enabling personalized, real-time care delivery. 🔟 AI and wearables promise a comprehensive transformation of healthcare, enhancing efficiency, personalizing treatments, and reducing costs while overcoming obstacles to data integration and physician-patient trust. ✍🏻 Perry LaBoone, PE, CPA, PMP, Oge Marques. Overview of the future impact of wearables and artificial intelligence in healthcare workflows and technology. International Journal of Information Management Data Insights. 2024. DOI: 10.1016/j.jjimei.2024.100294

Rehabilitation is entering a new era—one where technology is helping restore not just movement, but independence. Robotic exoskeletons and wearable gait-assist systems are transforming the way we think about rehabilitation for people living with spinal cord injuries, stroke-related disabilities, and severe lower-limb weakness. But the real innovation isn't the robotics itself. It's the possibility of helping patients regain function, confidence, and dignity. As healthcare professionals, we should evaluate every emerging technology through three important questions: • Does it improve meaningful patient outcomes? • Which patients benefit the most? • How can we integrate it into clinical practice safely, ethically, and based on strong evidence? Technology alone will never define the future of healthcare. The future belongs to innovations that improve lives, expand independence, and deliver better patient outcomes. This is the kind of progress worth paying attention to. What role do you think robotic rehabilitation and exoskeleton-assisted mobility will play in the future of clinical practice? Follow for Sima A. more insights on healthcare innovation and rehabilitation. #HealthcareInnovation #RehabilitationMedicine #MedicalTechnology #DigitalHealth #Neurorehabilitation #PatientCare #FutureOfHealthcare #AssistiveTechnology #PhysicalRehabilitation #HealthTech