Person-centred eHealth

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EIC, eHealth Innovation CentreLuleå University of TechnologyS-971 87 LULEÅ

Phone: +46 (0)920 49 10 00Fax: +46 (0)920 49 13 99 hlv-eic-info@list.ltu.se

EIC IN COLLABORATION WITH THE MUNICIPALITIES OF BODEN, LULEÅ AND PITEÅ AND NORRBOTTEN COUNTY COUNCIL

The idea of EIC, eHealth Innova-tion Centre, is simple. We want to develop services and products that are based on information andcommunication technology (ICT) and add the demands for eHealth services with innovative and applied research into how the demands can be met. This work will take place in a collaboration between research competence in various fields at the Luleå Univer-sity of Technology, LTU, the public sector’s extensive activities and the business sector. In this way EIC can contribute to the deve-lopment of welfare and research in the region. This is a grand vision that con-tains many possibilities. Techno-logy is developing fast and the demand is infinite. Better quality, good accessibility and increased efficiency are necessary and stra-tegic issues for the entire welfare sector. At the same time this is a resource-rich, expansive market that has many business oppor-tunities for the county’s business sector.

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EIC is a small organisation with a major task

EIC and their partners are wor-king together to find smart new eHealth solutions. Its mission is to find regional partners for innovati-ve solutions and to nurture these solutions.

UNIQUE RESEARCH ENVIRONMENTEIC creates innovative products, services and processes in a unique research environment that combines health science, computer science and electrical engineering. The research envi-ronment has a strong track record in international research projects and focuses on industrial growth and products. The EIC is recog-nized internationally as a centre of excellence in the areas of healthcare and well being, where information and communication technology is used to provide people with the best possible care in their homes or wherever they may be. To support innovative ideas, we allocate resources and, to some extent, funding in collaboration with our partners. Ideas may

come from researchers, innova-tors or healthcare professionals. We also support regional busines-ses working within eHealth.

LOCATION INDEPENDENT HEALTHCAREIn the future the ability to deliver healthcare independent of time, place and distance will be radi-cally different compared to today. Research-based solutions make it possible to live at home longer despite illness. These solutions are factors that can result in a better quality of life. The goal of EIC is to be a leading internatio-nal environment for research on home-based healthcare. The EIC will be an important resource for the testing of new solutions in healthcare, and supports a broad deployment through training and cooperation with the flourishing global eHealth sector.

New and healthcare-smart solutions

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In the industrialised world an important change in the population’s age profile is taking place. This involves challenges on how both care and rehabilitation services are provided, especially for older people. An increase in health problems and people with long-term illnesses combined with a reduction of available staff means that more must be achieved with fewer resources. Demographic trends is the most important driving force behind the new eHealth systems and ser-vices, but people of all ages will be able to benefit from the EIC project results. It is a well known fact that a healthier lifestyle in-cluding healthy food and regular exercise results in a better quality of life, reduces disease and thus also a general need for healthcare. That is why preventative eHealth solutions are important tools to help people maintain their health and avoid becoming ill when possible.

Research has shown that the families and healthcare staff of ill people who are cared for in their homes have a positive experience of the use of ICT. ICT-based solu-tions in home healthcare provide improved accessibility and adapt the care better to people’s indivi-dual needs, while also improving patient safety and comfort.

THREE FOCUS AREAS

• Collaboration between care- giver, patient/user and family

• Remote communication and consultation

• Accessibility of information for patients and citizens

Independent life for an ageing population

We believe that through eHealth, people will be able to receive care in their home and thereby enjoy a better quality of life.

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The projects carried out by the EIC must have a clear purpose in the three focus areas and it should also be useful for users, county councils and agreement munici-palities as well as have a positive effect on research and regional business. The projects will create services and products that help to strengthen the regional business sector in the eHealth field. In at least half of the projects one or more companies are to be inclu-ded as project partners. The com-panies are to invest in the project and thus share the project risk. EIC will measure results via the benefits that the projects create for users, how the activity con-tributes to the development of research at LTU and through the growth of new ideas and new deals in the business sector. Our ambition is to constantly look for projects that provide bet-ter service for users. The EIC shall promote the dissemination of information about development in the eHealth sector, for ex-ample by highlighting successful projects from EIC projects in their

EIC’s mission

county. The project catalogue will meet the needs that exist in the eHealth sector in Norrbotten. This could apply to the needs of individual users as well as those of the Norrbotten County Council or other eHealth organisations in the county. The most important task for EIC is to increase the number of new projects from different actors in the eHealth sector, for example from private actors or IT users.

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EIC’s work contributions

• A good overview of the eHealth sector

• Close collaboration with the Norrbotten County Council and with Luleå, Piteå and Boden municipalities

• Close collaboration with diffe- rent departments at Luleå University of Technology

• Qualified project manager and research manager capacity

• Established contact with important project and research financiers

• Some degree of personal financial capacity

Norrbotten, with only 2.6 inhabi-tants per square kilometre, is the least populated region in the EU. Many people have to travel a long way to primary health care cen-tres and hospitals. In Norrbotten, there is a need for healthcare with high accessibility, medical safety, care quality and productivity. De-spite long distances, the healthca-re organization must give the care providers opportunities for the same quality of care regardless of where the patients live. The geographic challenge and increasing number of older inha-bitants (the oldest in Europe) with an increased need for healthcare means that the development of ICT solutions in healthcare has been prioritised. The challenges have been turned into opportuni-ties because the county is already a hotbed for distance-spanning solutions, a position that is utilised for eHealth development. Distance-spanning solutions can also be used in more densely populated areas where they can contribute to increased productivity and a better quality of life.

The region has an advanced in-frastructure for ICT. Most Swedish homes have a computer and nine out of ten have a broadband Internet connection. Swedes have good knowledge of ICT and the willingness to not only use existing cutting edge technology, but also to try new solutions. This creates productive conditions for new ideas. Widespread use of ICT in health-care means improved service and organisational and financial ad-vantages. With eHealth solutions. healthcare is accessible to anyone everywhere and at any time. The goal is to give everyone the opp-ortunity to access their own medi-cal journal and to communicate with the healthcare system in a secure way – from home or whe-never necessary. This revolution has been made possible through the continuous implementation of ICT solutions that provides cor-rect information throughout the entire healthcare process.

INTERACTIONDISTANCE-SPANNINGACCESSIBILITY In order to further improve care systems and increase regional fi-nancial growth, major investments are being made in new research and innovation projects regarding eHealth.

eHEALTH SOLUTIONS ARE ECO-FRIENDLYThe eHealth solutions reduce tra-vel for staff, patients and their fami-lies. They provide increased access to leading experts at a lower cost. This is a sensible use of human and financial resources.

A sparsely populated county and an innovative ICT region

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FIA Innovative Future Work Methods for home healthcare

By introducing new technology and new work methods in an entire healthcare centre with affiliated senior citizens homes, a unique distance-bridging work model can be created for home healthcare in the future. The project is being implemented at the Björknäs primary healthcare centre and Åcenter and Ågården old people’s homes in Boden municipality. These work methods were developed in collaboration with patients, healthcare staff, IT suppli-ers and researchers at the Depart-ment of Health Science at LTU. EIC is the project owner and leads the project work.

COORDINATED HEALTHCARE PLANNINGIn coordinated healthcare plan-ning, the patient’s needs and resources are identified and the coordination of initiatives from

various actors is planned so that the patient and their family can feel safe when they are dischar-ged from the hospital and return home. The healthcare plan should be drawn up in consultation with the patient and approved by everyone involved. This work method demands efficient and secure planning and information transfer between all actors with the focus on the patient. Coordinated healthcare plan-ning is an integrated part of the care at hospitals and takes place in the form of phone calls, meetings and documentation. For secure, efficient planning for the patient’s return home, cross-boundary cooperation and the efficient and safe exchange of information is necessary. It is important that the patient and their family feel as early on as pos-sible that they are involved in the process. All interventions are tested for a year at five inpatient wards at a hospital and three healthcare cen-tres, all of which sort under the Norrbotten County Council. Two municipalities are also affected.

EXAMPLES OF eHEALT PROJECTS

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Renewing Health is an extensive European field test of person-ba-sed eHealth services that will run from January 2010 until Septem-ber 2012. It involves 7,900 patients in nine European countries and focuses on the following three areas: Type 2 Diabetes,Cardiovascular Diseases and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. The Swedish field test, which only includes type 2 diabe-tes and cardiovascular diseases, consists of 800 patients. Björknäs, Sanden, Grytnäs and Övertorneå primary healthcare centres are participating. The total budget is 14 million euros, while the budget for the EIC and Norrbotten County Council is 14 million SEK. The EU program CIP is financing 50 percent of the project costs. The project started at the end of 2010. Its purpose is to show if person-based eHealth solutions have a positive effect on health development and if patients with chronic diseases experience a bet-ter and safer quality of life. For the field test a set of inclu-

sion and exclusion criteria were agreed upon for the patients. Those who meet the criteria can register their interest and exten-sive tests will be performed. Every other patient is then allotted at random to the intervention or the control group, with a total of 200 patients in each group for each of the two diagnoses. Similar parts of the field tests are clustered together in order to obtain a larger patient database. Therefore the Swedish part of the project is the cluster leader for cardiovascular diseases in the Swedish field tests. The Norwegi-an Centre for Telemedicine is the cluster leader for type 2 diabetes field tests in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Austria.

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Renewing Health

IF YOU HAVE AN IDEAEIC is searching for new ideas for projects, good, high quality ideas, create relationships with innovators and future entrepreneurs and spread knowledge about EIC. Everyone has thought about how healthcare works and how it could be improved. It can be a small detail that could make everyday life easier, or a more comprehensive change. Maybe your idea could be solved using eHealth and it could become a project or a product that could help many people. Through eHealth solutions people can receive care at home and enjoy a better quality of life. EIC offers research resources in collaboration with LTU. But it also handles project management. EIC mediates collaborations with companies and entrepreneurs and can create development platforms at the NCC or in a municipality. As an innovator you are involved in the entire process. You own your idea and are in complete control of it. All suggestions are treated with secrecy. Get in touch with us at hlv-eic-info@list.ltu.se to tell us about your idea!

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