In October, OBH were delighted to host the second Clinical Associates Network event at the Health Foundry!

Senior Analysts Ellie and Rose kicked off with OBH’s latest work on population segmentation and HealthSpan measurement. They discussed the importance of baseline measures and real-time measurement when monitoring outcomes, as well as the adaptation of the Bridges to Health segmentation model to allow local health and care systems to configure their segments according to their priorities.

Bob Klaber then followed with a fantastic overview of his work on the Connecting Care for Children programme, highlighting the importance of building relationships across providers and people, summarising key design prinicples to consider when organising care models for children and young people.

It was fantastic to see so many members of the #obhnetwork community and welcome some new faces too….we look forward to hosting the next event!

Read more about the OBH Clinical Associates Network here.

We are delighted to announce that OBH will continue working in partnership with Guy’s and St Thomas’ (GSTT) Charity and King’s College London (KCL) on a programme of work focussed around understanding and slowing the progression to multiple long-term conditions.

The first stage of the project involved defining a list of 32 long-term conditions and six risk factors through a rigorous consultation method with patient representatives, partners from the NHS, local government and the voluntary sector. Both national and international definitions of long-term conditions were analysed, amongst other criteria including the impact of long-term conditions on people’s lives, treatment burden, age of onset and likelihood of progression to further long-term conditions, amongst others.

The next stage will continue to explore multiple long-term conditions, including factors like the impact of deprivation in people’s journey and the role of key life events as potential windows for early intervention. We look forward to continue working in partnership with GSTT Charity and KCL on this exciting and important project!

Read more about the project here.

We are very excited to announce that OBH has been selected to participate in the Health Data Research UK Sandbox!

The initial phase of the programme will involve the use of linked, longitudinal health data to measure and validate OBH’s HEALTHSPAN and HEALTHY LIFESPAN index measures.

Health Data Research UK is the national institute for health data science with a mission to align the UK’s health data to enable discoveries that improve people’s lives. The Health Data Research UK Sandbox is a virtual testing environment for products, services, innovations or knowledge that require access to large scale data to improve the health of patients and the population. The Sandbox will provide test cases for a government initiative, delivered by Health Data Research UK, to transform access to the UK’s health data – safely and securely – for research that could pioneer new and faster treatments for patients and find new cures for diseases.

We are delighted to have been selected and look forward to being involved in this exciting programme!

The paper launched in April reviewed 5 outcomes frameworks, including the NHS Outcomes Framework (NHSOF) and The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), with the aim of understanding the technical measure integrity and viability behind each indicator. OBH drew from their clinical, analytics and NHS data experience to capture considerations such as data availability, accuracy and robustness over time.

Whilst publicly available frameworks can be used for a range of purposes including monitoring quality, benchmarking providers against one another and to highlight variation in care provision, the paper argues that these frameworks are less effective when measuring and monitoring outcomes at a local-level. OBH recommends a greater focus on outcomes, a well-defined and locally configured segmentation model, local agreement on outcomes across the health and care system, as well as the use of local linked datasets, across all providers to allow the measurement of true outcomes in near-real time.

The official launch of the paper took place at the NHS Elect event in April on “Reflections on Delivering Integrated Care in the NHS”, where CEO Rupert and Senior Health Outcomes Analyst Ellie presented the findings. The event featured presentations from Centene about their work in the UK, as well as case studies from across the NHS Elect network. The full paper can be found on the Resources page on our website.

In April, CEO Rupert spoke at the Primary Care Commissioning event on “Measuring outcomes in Integrated Services”.

The event covered various themes including population segmentation, outcomes measurement for the currently healthy population, contracts to secure integrated service provision, as well as the financial considerations of implementing integrated services. Delegates included CCG chief officers, directors of commissioning and directors of finance.

Read more here.

We are delighted to announce that in April, CEO Rupert was invited to join the Strategic Advisory Board for the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Longevity, chaired by Lord Filkin.

The APPG aims to address the scientific, technological and socio-economic issues related to the growing ageing demographic to promote living younger, healthier and longer lives, in line with the Industrial Strategy Grand Challenges. The group will facilitate a cross-disciplinary exchange about the advantages of longevity within an ethical, citizen-centred framework, and develop practical guidance and recommendations for the UK government.

At the first Strategic Advisory Board Meeting, Rupert was invited to speak about OBH’s work identifying the ‘currently healthy’ population, and the measurement of outcomes for this specific population group. Whilst health and care systems have generally succeeded in prolonging life in recent years, a whole population, objective, system-level understanding as to whether or not these ‘extra years’ have been lived in good health has yet to be determined. Rupert conveyed the importance of metrics such as HEALTHSPAN and HEALTHY LIFESPAN INDEX in addressing the unsustainable rise of health and care costs. Such metrics are excellent markers of prevention and indicators of progress in achieving several key national targets.

We are excited to announce that COO Juliana will be giving a keynote speech under the Health Analytics vertical on 24th of May 2019 at HIMSS Hospitalar focusing on “Digital Health – Prediction, Prevention and Precision Care”. She will share OBH’s experience in the UK and discuss the application of population segmentation and advanced analytics to measure HEALTHY LIFESPAN.. The event remains the most influential event in the Latin American healthcare segment, exhibiting over 1,200 companies and 85,000 delegates from 50 countries, discussing the latest innovations in health and care.

Whilst in Brazil, Juliana has also been invited to attend several meetings with key local stakeholders, facilitated by the DIT Brazil together with the UK Consulate in Sao Paulo. We are delighted for Juliana to have the opportunity to join another international mission, and would like to thank DIT Brazil for their ongoing support.

In March, CEO Rupert spoke at the IBM Watson Health event on the role of Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics in transforming healthcare.

Rupert discussed the importance of linking clinical, cost and operational datasets to ensure timely outcomes reporting, as well as how the unlocking of data could help achieve better, informed care decisions across pathways. He also emphasised the need to measure outcomes for healthy populations in addition to those who are already being treated for an illness, stating that this was an essential step forward in the proactive analysis required in order to effectively implement targeted prevention strategies.

The event, hosted at the King’s Fund and delivered in partnership with IBM Watson Health, discussed the latest opportunities that science and technology can bring to health and care, including their role in actioning the government’s focus on prevention outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan.

We are delighted to announce that in February, CEO Rupert and CTO Nasrin were accepted as Fellows of the Faculty of Clinical Informatics!

The faculty was established as the professional membership body for all clinical informaticians within the UK – formed of a group of health and social care professionals, who through their specialist knowledge around data and information technology, can assist in the delivery of safe, person-centred care.

The FCI aims to establish clinical informatics as a recognised profession, develop professional standards, provide training and accreditation for individuals and courses, and support recruitment and careers in clinical informatics.

In December, Rupert spoke at the third Community of Practice event for population health management leads across ICSs, organised by NHS England’s System Transformation Group.

The event began with updates from the group, followed by the keynote session focusing on enablers and outcomes of integrating health and social care at an international level. The afternoon sessions allowed delegates to participate in a variety of workshops, with topics including the measuring of health outcomes, the role of an integrated care record in supporting PHM, as well as segmentation and integration.

Speaking specifically on the measurement of health outcomes, Rupert discussed the particular segmentation requirements for outcome measurement. This included how OBH ‘segments’ populations using a version of the Bridges to Health model, built around the unique features of NHS health and care data. This evolved into an interesting discussion around child health and young adults, notably on how population segmentation requirements may fundamentally differ for this cohort.

In November, OBH started a new programme of work with King’s College London, on understanding multiple Long-Term Conditions in Lambeth and Southwark, funded by Guy’s and St Thomas’s Charity (GSTTc). The programme aims to explore and understand people who are at high risk of developing multiple long-term conditions, and delay their onset or prevent the development of multimorbidity.

OBH have been building models around defining, identifying and understanding people with long-term conditions as part of their work on the development of the Bridges to Health segmentation data model. They will be bringing this expertise to the programme, and expanding the evaluation and analysis to deep dive into multimorbidity. With both national and international approaches to defining a LTC and multiple-LTCs varying significantly, the initial stage of the project involves developing and collectively agreeing upon a definition. This is a crucial part of any work on multimorbidity as stated by the recent Academy of Medical Sciences report on multimorbidity. The long-term conditions that will be defined in scope of the programme will be included based on those conditions that impact people’s lives, that are highly prevalent, and that are most referenced by national and international sources.

We look forward to working with GSTT Charity and King’s College through the duration of this programme; with the ambitious vision of further understanding progression, and delaying or preventing the onset of multimorbidity.

This December saw the official launch of the OBH Clinical Associates Network!

CEO Rupert spoke to a full house as he welcomed everyone to the event, beginning with a brief overview of our work on value, outcomes and population segmentation across the NHS over the last 5 years. This was followed by presentations from our two guest speakers. Ivan Beckley (UCL Medical student, MSc Data science) firstly discussed his incredible journey so far as a medical student, including his experience as an intern at OBH, as well as his thoughts on AI and it’s role within the future of the NHS. Toby Colgate-Stone (Consultant Orthopaedic Trauma Surgeon and OBH Clinical Associate) then followed, providing a fascinating talk around his work at King’s College Foundation Trust, discussing ways in which he has seen and experienced the implementation of value on the front-line.

It was fantastic to see so many people interested in being part of the value-based community in the UK. We look forward to hosting our next Clinical Associates Network event soon!

If you are a clinician/medical student interested in joining the OBH Clinical Associates Network, visit the page on our website to find out more.

We are excited to announce that we our hosting our first ever Clinical Associates Network event! A great opportunity to network with like-minded individuals and learn more about value-based payments, outcomes measurement and HEALTHSPAN.

There will be a brief presentation on value-based healthcare and outcomes, as well as an overview of OBH’s current work (including HealthSpan) with the NHS. Guests will then hear from two current members of the network, Dr Toby Colgate-Stone (Consultant Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgeon at King’s College Hospital) and Ivan Beckley (UCL Medical student and former OBH intern) and hear their thoughts on current value and outcomes work in the UK and the future of the NHS.

If you’re already a member or a clinician/medical student interested in our work at OBH, register here and join us on Tuesday 4th December from 5-8pm at the King’s Fund!

The OBH Clinical Associates Network is formed of clinicians and medical students who are dedicated to growing the value-based community in the UK and globally.

Our very own Senior Health Outcomes Analyst Ellie has been selected for the Value-Based Healthcare Delivery course at Harvard Business School in Boston!

The one-week intensive seminar will include a variety of faculty topic lectures, panel discussions and case studies highlighting real-life examples of how organisations and health systems can implement value-based delivery models. Ellie will join Rupert, Juliana and Nasrin, and a large number of our Clinical Associates in having completed this course.

We are all delighted for Ellie and hope she enjoys this fantastic opportunity!

In October we published our ‘Outcomes Library’; a longlist of outcome measures grouped by population segment.

With 122 outcomes, the extensive list allows health systems to select, vote and prioritise outcomes to develop locally configured Outcomes Frameworks. OBH’s Outcomes Platform provides the numbers for each outcome on the framework on a monthly, and near real-time basis.

Each outcome measure has been fully developed and validated either by OBH or from an existing national source, for use at local level. The library contains Clinical Social Outcome Measures, using existing linked, local data from administrative and clinical systems across multiple care settings, now including HEALTHSPAN too!

Download the Outcomes Library here.

An exciting few days for CEO Rupert at the UK Health Show on the ‘Commissioning for the Future’ stage!

Taking part in two panel discussions, he discussed the importance of collaboration with STPs to enable local health system transformation as well as the incentivising of prevention vs payment by results. Featuring a range of people from legal, clinical and more corporate backgrounds, both panels covered various themes including cancer, mental health and long-term conditions. There was also a specific focus on the challenges and opportunities of system integration and transformation.

With a notable emphasis on the role of technology in optimising healthcare delivery throughout the event, this year’s edition of the UK Health Show was the largest to date. This provided a fantastic opportunity for clinicians and healthcare professionals amongst others to help their organisations play a part in shaping the NHS into a sustainable healthcare system for years to come!

A productive, inspiring week for our CEO Rupert at the World Economic Forum in China, showcasing innovation and collaboration in Digital Health on an international scale!

With enlightening sessions on the Future of Healthcare and Machine Learning, as well as discussion with Secretary of State Matt Hancock, the event firmly reinforced the power of some of the UK’s leading HealthTech SMEs in the use of technology to improve prevention and empowerment.

A fantastic step in ensuring better health outcomes and sustainable costs of care, emphasising the importance of prevention and ensuring people never become ‘patients’ in the first place. Through systematic measurement, understanding and improvement of HEALTHY LIFESPAN and HEALTHSPAN, sustainable life costs of care can become a reality and allow health systems to reduce the lifetime burden of ill health.

Great news for OBH and the sustainability of our healthcare system for generations to come!

Speaking at the Bevan Brittan Digital Health Forum, cofounder and COO Juliana discussed the latest on protecting innovations, specifically the importance of safeguarding intellectual property within a start-up.

She shared OBH’s experience and learnings from the last 5 years, showcasing our evolution from “reactive” to “strategic” when it comes to managing intellectual property.

Bevan Brittan’s Digital Health Forum in September formed part of a series of conferences whereby industry regulators, consumers and providers discuss the emergence of ideas and themes within the health tech space amongst industry leaders.

Our CEO Rupert is joining the Secretary of Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, with his HealthTech delegation to the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of New Champions in China this week!

The World Economic Forum is an international organisation for public-private cooperation, engaging the leading political and business leaders.

Rupert is looking forward to joining Matt Hancock and the other leaders in the delegation, and seeing what the week has to hold!