Samara Rosenfeld

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With less than a month left to submit digital health solution innovations to 

Boston Scientific’s fifth annual Connected Patient Challenge

, Massachusetts Life Sciences Center has announced it will sponsor an additional award.

The MLSC Spotlight Award will be given to a Massachusetts-based organization that is one of the six finalists as determined by the online voting portion of the program. The economic development and investment agency will review all contestants that meet the criteria for the award.

The entrant selected by Massachusetts Life Sciences Center can win up to $25,000.

“As the convergence revolution continues to catalyze a new generation of therapies, medical devices and enabling technologies, we are grateful to be part of this collaborative initiative for bringing people together from across the ecosystem during this major evolution in healthcare innovation,” said MLSC President and CEO Travis McCready.

Since the challenge launched in September, the challenge has outpaced prior years with the number of submissions. Innovators around the world have submitted their ideas focused on improving disease states that affect large populations for a chance of up to $50,000 in in-kind services from Boston Scientific and Google. These digital solutions aim to improve patient outcomes, cost savings, reduction in care needed by a patient, better patient experience and more.

Ravi Vangara, director at EinsCare, is still leading the way in votes with his health management solution for patients with chronic endocrine disease. Vangara’s solution offers qualitative and quantitative vital information to endocrinologists to determine a patient’s best treatment options.

Porus Rawal, MBA, submitted Wellthy Therapeutics’ prescription digital therapeutic for self-management of chronic conditions with proven endpoints. In his submission, Rawal said the digital health platform can help augment better health outcomes through real-time care. The digital therapeutic also gives healthcare providers access to the full picture of an individual patient’s journey and could improve medication adherence. Wellthy Therapeutics focuses on diabetes, cardiology and chronic kidney disease.

Another entry submitted to the challenge is from Mark Lazarovich, M.D., an internal medicine specialist in Vermont. His deep-learning device aims to solve situational insomnia due to post-surgical pain. A user opens the single use, scent-delivery device and places it on their pillow. The exposure to the scent induces sleep.

Innovators still have time to submit their ideas before the Jan. 3 deadline. Participants can find answers to questions, entry guidelines and additional information 

Submissions should focus on chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular, digestive, cancer, neurological/chronic pain, respiratory, and/or urology and pelvic health, with an aim of improving patient outcomes, cost savings, reduction in care needed by patient, better patient experience, and more. Solutions should also be practical ideas that can realistically be implemented in today’s clinical environment at a reasonable cost.

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A new sponsor will award a Massachusetts-based organization up to $25,000.

New Award Announced for Boston Scientific Connected Patient Challenge

The rapid advance of technology has ushered in new paradigms when it comes to healthcare, particularly for patients managing chronic conditions. Rather than traveling to a doctor’s office or healthcare facility, patients now have the ability to use digital tools at home to improve their care or connect with their providers.

“Digital health management, supporting people outside the four walls of care delivery by using technology, offers the potential to extend clinical resources, with some encouraging results,” Trishan Panch, MD, MPH, co-founder and chief medical officer for digital health management provider Wellframe, and AJMC.com contributor, 

“As many of these patients are capable of self-managing (at least some of the time), digital health management makes it easier and more effective to do so by virtually connecting patients and clinicians through digital experiences, such as a smartphone app,” Panch continued.

Boston Scientific seeks to add to the arsenal of tools available to help manage chronic conditions at home via its 

. And now, a month after the launch of the contest, the company has seen a record-breaking number of submissions compared to previous years, and there’s still time for healthcare innovators to submit their ideas.

The challenge, which calls on innovators to submit digital health solutions that improve care at home and help patients better manage chronic conditions, already has received submissions from participants across the world. Entries have come the U.S., Taiwan, Israel, and Thailand, among other countries.

Some submissions leverage artificial intelligence and the internet of things to help aging patients achieve better quality of life. Others seek to help patients manage asthma or chronic obtrusive pulmonary disease via blood pressure monitoring.

The following are examples of submissions and appear to be leading the way in crowd votes so far:

Nicholas Conn, PhD, founder and CEO at Heart Health Intelligence, from New York, has developed a toilet seat that aims to reduce heart failure readmissions. The toilet seat connects to the cloud and can be installed onto a standard toilet. Using advanced algorithms, the seat captures measurements, including blood pressure and cardiac output. The technology can identify deterioration in patients with heart failure before they are aware that something is wrong.

Ravi Vangara, director at EinsCare, from India, posted a health management solution for patients with chronic endocrine disease. The solution offers qualitative and quantitative vital information to endocrinologists to determine a patient’s best treatment options.

The deadline for innovator submissions is January 3, 2020. Participants can find answers to frequently asked questions, entry guidelines, and more information 

Submissions should focus on disease states that affect large populations, such as cardiovascular, digestive, cancer, neurological/chronic pain, respiratory, and/or urology and pelvic health, with an aim of improving patient outcomes, cost savings, reduction in care needed by patient, better patient experience, and more.

Innovator solutions should also be practical ideas that can realistically be implemented in today’s clinical environment at a reasonable cost.

Along with crowdsourced voting, a panel of expert judges will vote and ultimately select six finalists to compete in a live pitch-off at Google’s campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in February. Finalists will have the opportunity to network with other innovators and experts.

First- and second-place winners will be announced for a share of up to $50,000 in in-kind services from Boston Scientific and Google.

Boston Scientific seeks to add to the arsenal of tools available to help manage chronic conditions at home via its  fifth annual Connect Patient Challenge.

Innovators Submit Digital Health Solutions for Managing Care at Home 

As healthcare shifts from the inpatient setting to outside the four walls of a health facility, innovations allow patients with chronic conditions to manage their health from the comfort of their own homes. Technologies such as mobile health apps and wearables give patients more control over both their treatment plans and their health data.

The Network for Excellence in Health Innovation (NEHI) recently outlined its roadmap for reinventing the healthcare system, called Health Care Without Walls. The idea, 

 visiting fellow at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy and former president and chief executive officer of NEHI, is to move away from a sick care system to one that goes to people and delivers more care virtually.
	
	In the vein of innovation, Boston Scientific is excited to announce its fifth annual Connected Patient Challenge, a campaign seeking digital health solutions to improve care at home, prevent health crises, and better manage chronic conditions.

“Events like this are so critical to raising awareness of the world of the possible and how you can drive really meaningful innovation,” David Feygin, Ph.D., MBA, the vice president of IT and Chief Digital Health Officer at Boston Scientific, 

 at the 2018 event.
	
	The challenge will bring together providers, institutions, patients, payers, and researchers from across the healthcare ecosystem with the goal of better understanding pain points in healthcare and how digital solutions can augment care for patients living at home with chronic diseases.

“We could not be more thrilled with the excitement and awareness that the Connected Patient Challenge has built in the digital health community,” David Knapp, PhD, vice president, Corporate Research at Boston Scientific, said in a statement to 

. “We look forward to building on that in our fifth year as we turn our focus to care of chronic conditions at home for stakeholders across the ecosystem.”

Living comfortably and safely in one’s home rather than being hospitalized or at a treatment facility can improve patient outcomes and ultimately lower healthcare costs over time. It is essential to have tools to address neurological, digestive, respiratory and cardiovascular conditions, chronic pain, cancer, and pelvic health.

Being able to receive care in the home will become particularly important as the aging U.S. population is choosing to stay in their own homes rather than go to the hospital or a nursing home to receive care. Technology has a role in aiding home-based care for older patients through remote monitoring, medication management, and safety technology, explained 

speakers at World Health Care Congress 2019.


	
	Participants should consider how their digital health solution or device can benefit all stakeholders-patients, caregivers, clinicians, and payers.
	
	Those who wish to enter may do so on the 

Boston Scientific Connected Patient Challenge website

. Individuals or teams can submit their innovations, along with complementary images and videos for the outside community at large to view and vote for.
	
	Along with crowdsourced voting, a panel of expert judges will vote and ultimately select 6 finalists to compete in a live pitch-off at Google’s campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in February. Finalists will have the opportunity to network with other innovators and experts.
	
	First and second place winners will be announced for a share of up to $50,000 in in-kind services from Boston Scientific and Google.
	
	“It really takes partnership and collaboration to solve some of the biggest challenges in healthcare today,” Feygin said.

Boston Scientific announced its fifth annual Connected Patient Challenge, a campaign seeking digital health solutions that improve patient care and better manage chronic conditions.

Author | Samara Rosenfeld

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