“We need to get on board with technology and not put our heads in the sand”: Stakeholder views on the role of HealthTech in respiratory primary care (ID 669)
University of Oxford
Abstract
Introduction: UK government priorities for NHS improvements focus on three shifts in care: ‘hospital to community’, ‘prevention to treatment’ and ‘analogue to digital’. Development of novel health technology (‘HealthTech’) for respiratory primary care is therefore a key interest area for industry and researchers.
Aims/Objectives: To explore the potential role of novel HealthTech in respiratory primary care from the perspective of primary care healthcare professionals and stakeholders with an interest in respiratory disease.
Methods: We facilitated a breakout discussion on ‘HealthTech in respiratory primary care: is it the future?’ during the 2024 Primary Care Respiratory Conference which all delegates were welcome to attend. Elevator pitches from two HealthTech companies set the scene, followed by discussion to explore how current unmet needs in respiratory primary care could be addressed with HealthTech (or not), including key barriers and facilitators to implementation. Discussion was audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim, and data was analysed thematically.
Results: We estimate 30 people attended the breakout discussion. Of these, 14 people, covering a range of roles, actively contributed (GP (n=3); respiratory physician (n=2); pharmacist, respiratory nurse, physiotherapist BreathChamps CIC practice nurse patient representative (n=1 respectively); and not specified (n=3)). Three themes were identified (see, Figure 1) which capture contributors’ views on the (1) ‘benefits of technologies’ (e.g., empowering patients, supporting self-management, improving patient-clinician communication), (2) ethical and practical ‘considerations for new technology’ (e.g., ethics of data management, compounding health inequalities, importance of developing technologies to respond to clinical need), and (3) necessity for shifts in attitudes about technology (particularly AI) as we ‘look to the future’.
Implications and Conclusion: This exploratory stakeholder discussion demonstrates an appetite amongst respiratory primary care healthcare professionals and stakeholders towards health technology innovation in respiratory care. Nevertheless, contributors raised big questions regarding the potential of HealthTech to increase health inequities, and the ethics of responsibility that comes hand-in-hand with big data/Artificial Intelligence. It is paramount that HealthTech is developed with appropriate frameworks in place to reassure users of ethical and data safeguards, and in partnership with health care professionals and patients to ensure that they are addressing unmet needs of the whole respiratory community.
Funding: None.
Conflicts of interest: ZO and HA work within, and receive funding from, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) HealthTech Research Centre for Community Healthcare at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care. In this role they conduct studies and evaluations involving respiratory technologies, where these have been provided at reduced price or free-of-charge by the companies but they have no financial interest in these companies, or direct payments from them.
GD supported by the NIHR Leicester Respiratory BRC.
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