What do environmental sustainability, international collaboration, and digital health innovation have in common? They were all key features of TRANSFORM HF’s 2024 Fall Network Event!
On November 8, 2024, more than 80 clinicians, researchers, trainees, people with lived experience, and industry partners joined us for our 7th bi-annual meeting.
The day featured a keynote address on sustainability in digital health by Dr. Fiona Miller, an international panel discussion on remotely managing heart failure in Uganda led by a Reach Alliance team, and interdisciplinary research presentations at the intersection of digital health and health equity – all captured by our talented live illustrator Dr. Danielle Taschereau Mamers.
Danielle also guided us all through a facilitated networking event, forging connections between our diverse members with shared interests. In addition to fostering potential collaborations, this activity also clarified some best practices for the advancement of equitable heart failure care through digital health innovation:
1. Integration & Interoperability
The extent to which AI can streamline research, enhance clinical decision-making, and improve outcomes is dependent on the degree of standardization and centralization of data systems. Secure and interoperable platforms and tools are needed to increase efficiency and make solutions accessible to diverse populations.
2. Patient-Centered Care & Design
While AI has the potential to transform our health systems, human-centered approaches are needed to build trust and support personalized care. Digital health solutions should focus on ‘meeting patients where they are’ to empower users and increase adoption – doing so requires engaging people with lived experience at the earliest stages of development.
3. Multidisciplinary Collaboration
Multidisciplinary collaboration is needed to bridge gaps between care delivery, technology, policy, and patient needs, as well as to ensure equitable, real-world impact. This means including people with lived experience, healthcare providers (the entire circle of care), researchers, engineers, and policy makers throughout co-design and co-development, and ensuring equal representation from all populations to prioritize accessibility.
4. Decentralized & Equitable Data Practices
Practicing high-quality, patient-inclusive, and ethically sound data collection, storage, and use is crucial. Further, involving underserved populations and addressing biases in data collection and implementation is key to ensuring digital health tools prioritize equity. Decentralization of research (such as clinical trials, for example) supports representative data collection, and will result in solutions that are appropriate and inclusive.
5. Sustainability & Scalability
Ensuring solutions are sustainable in terms of environmental impact and usability is key to long-term impact. Devices should be designed with considerations of sustainability and scalability in mind: Are materials eco-friendly and carbon-neutral? Will the technology fit within existing healthcare systems and workflows? Do solutions increase accessibility across all populations? Am I engaging the appropriate partners to support responsible implementation?
Many thanks to all our attendees and facilitators who made this event possible! We hope that you formed partnerships around shared interests, and will consider applying to our Collaboration Starter Grant competition.
If you’re interested in joining the conversation, hold the date for our Spring Network Event on Wednesday, May 21, 2025 from 9am-5pm – TRANSFORM HF will be celebrating our 5 year anniversary and would love for you to join us!
