Kategorie: News

EHTEL (European Health Telematics Associations) and EHMA (European Health Management Association) partnered to raise awareness about management tools and methods which can help implementers to scale-up digital health services and make them an integral part of health and care delivery systems.

The first collaboration on the matter has started in 2012 with the Momentum project and ended-up with the identification of 18 critical success factors and the development of a collaborative assessment methodology.

Today, both organisations announced the Though Leadership webinar to their respective members. The webinar put the spotlights on a new management tool and associated methodologies: the SCIROCCO on-line self-assessment tool, aiming at assessing the readiness of an environment for Integrated Care.

During the webinar, the attendees had the opportunity to learn about the on-line tool itself, methodologies on how to apply the Tool as well as the experience of some of those regions who used the prototype of this Tool.

Main messages

• The maturity model can help assessing the readiness of a health and care system for integrated care.
• It can also help identifying domains where further work is needed to support the large-scale deployment of a good practice in integrated care.

Access the full recorded webinar here

The B3 Action Group on Integrated Care of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA) brought together the members of the Action Group for the face-to-face meeting on 16 May 2018 in Brussels. The objective of the meeting was to raise awareness about the progress of the B3 Action Group activities, including the development of the Maturity Model and its online self-assessment tool.

The Action Group meeting was a unique opportunity for SCIROCCO to feature a new functionality of the Tool for the assessment of Good Practices. The objective of the assessment process is to identify the maturity requirements of a particular Good Practice that are required for its adoption and transferability. The outcomes of the assessment process should therefore facilitate a better understanding and classification of existing evidence on integrated care.

The detailed methodology and process for the application of the Tool was outlined, including a practical example and experience of the Basque Country using the Tool to assess the requirements necessary for the implementation and transferability of the Pain Clinic Good Practice. For more information about the Good Practice https://scirphp8.iqmed.cloud/basque-country-b2-transversal-approach-of-the-pain-from-a-pain-unit/

An illustrative demo video on how to apply the SCIROCCO tool for the assessment of good practices was also developed and can be accessed here https://scirphp8.iqmed.cloud/maturity-model-in-practice-scirocco-assessment-tool/

The full presentation from the meeting can be accessed here.

At the AER (Assembly of European Regions) spring plenaries in Arad, Romania, on 21 March 2018, the association organised a meeting on the tenth anniversary of its eHealth Network. Discussions took place on practical work on scaling-up integrated care.

Diane Whitehouse (EHTEL), a member of the SCIROCCO project facilitated a short briefing on the “deployment of integrated systems: a 12-dimension maturity model”, and to encourage wider testing and application of the Tool.

At round tables, AER contributors offered insights into regional health and care systems in Trento (Italy), the Bucharest region (Romania), and Värmland (Sweden). Possible usage could be made of SCIROCCO in the future in the Danube region through collaboration with projects such as Mach2. Attendees looked forward to the opportunity to attend SCIROCCO meetings in the context of the 2018 European week of cities and regions and SCIROCCO’s final conference in Brussels to be held in late October 2018.

Last but not least, AER was pleased to welcome NHS National Services Scotland as a new association member in 2018.

Download presentation by Diane Whitehouse, EHTEL „Deployment of Integrated Systems: A 12-Dimension Maturity Model„

The committee on Health and Social Policy of the Senate of the Czech Parliament in cooperation with the Center for the Study of Longevity and Long-term Care, Faculty of Humanities at Charles University organised seminar on Integration of Health and Social Care: Reflection on the State of the Czech Republic and Abroad.

The seminar took place in the Senate Chamber in Prague on November 22, 2016.  It was the first event that focused on the trends in integrated care. The event gathered a larger audience of policy makers and other stakeholders in the Czech Republic.

Zdenek Gutter from the Czech National eHealth Center presented a review of instruments to support implementation of integrated care for chronically ill in the EU countries. He also informed about the achievements of B3 Action Group on Integrated Care of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing, specifically speaking about the B3 Maturity Model and its further development under the new EU funded project SCIROCCO.

Brief report with photos from the event is here: http://www.senat.cz/cinnost/galerie.php?aid=19639

Presentations form the seminar are available here (only in Czech): http://www.cello-ilc.fhs.cuni.cz/CEL-55.html?news=3362&locale=cz

An important question during the development of a new instrument is whether it measures what it is supposed to measure. This is referred to as the validity of an instrument. The newly developed instrument the B3 Maturity Model (B3-MM) aims to assess maturity along 12 dimensions reflecting the various aspects that need to be managed in order to deliver integrated care.

To assess if the content of the B3-MM is relevant and comprehensive, we collected data among international experts in the field of integrated care and compared the content of the B3-MM with existing instruments for the measurement of integrated care identified in the scientific literature. As a result, it was concluded that the content of the B3-MM is satisfactory in measuring maturity of integrated care and some suggestions were provided for further improvement of the B3-MM.

To access the full article: https://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.3063 (open access – PDF download via Int. Journal of Integrated Care website).

The European Week of Regions and Cities (EWRC 2017) event showcased the work of a number of regions involved in the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA) – a unique example of a partnership voluntarily-bringing together a wide range of regions, industries, research institutions, and end-user organisations committed to innovating for European citizens‘ needs, by addressing a triple win: health and quality of life; sustainable and efficient care systems; and growth and the expansion of EU industry in line with the Commission’s priorities in jobs, growth and investment, as well as the digital transformation of health and care.

Through the EIP on AHA, the European cities and regions implemented comprehensive, innovation-based approaches to active and healthy ageing and shared information and good practices to overcome bottlenecks in innovation, knowledge-pooling and resource-sharing. As a result of close collaboration of four Reference Sites (the Basque Country, Norrbotten, Olomouc and Scotland) via EU Health Programme funded project SCIROCCO, an online tool to assess the progress of regions and their maturity in the provision of innovative integrated care solutions has been developed.

The session stimulated discussion with policymakers and practitioners and provided a platform to share regional experience in developing and implementing innovative approaches to integrated care solutions and reaching out to other regions to accelerate their journey towards innovative systems to meet future demands.

The follow up local event was then organised in Glasgow in Scotland on 21 November 2017. The event brought together public policy-makers, healthcare professionals, representatives of social care, housing and voluntary sectors, academia and end users to discuss the experience of European regions and organisations in developing and delivering integrated health and social care. The event was also an opportunity to explore the potential of the Tool to facilitate the partnerships and knowledge transfer to facilitate scaling up of integrated care in Europe.

Main messages

• Putting citizens at the heart of integrated care can unlock the potential of innovation and build the capacities of European regions to address the challenge of ageing.
• Implementation and scaling up of integrated care solutions requires understanding and readiness of the environment that would enable adoption of these solutions.
• Assessing the readiness of a system of care to innovate e.g. with integrated care, helps to build resilience in regions and cities.

WEBCAST: “Meeting the Challenge of Ageing: Putting the Citizens at the Heart of Integrated Care in Europe” (Tuesday, 21 Nov  2017) at Glasgow  Scotland [download agenda]) has been a regional event linked to the 15th European Week of Regions and Cities (EWRC 2017).

To see the recorded webcast, visit https://app.video3.co.uk

• In the email address section enter: sciroccoguest@video3media.co.uk
• In the password section enter: welcome1234

As part of Scotland’s engagement in the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA) and the Reference Sites Collaborative Network (RSCN), Scotland has lead the development of a tool to assess regions’ progress and maturity in the provision of integrated care and innovative solutions for active and healthy ageing. The online self-assessment tool is intended to stimulate discussion, to encourage stakeholders to share experiences, and to reach out those stakeholders who can help Europe to accelerate its journey towards innovative integrated care systems to meet future demands. Core to this process is the involvement of as wide a range of stakeholders as possible.

At this event, which will take place in the context of the Scottish Digital Health and Care Week, European Week of Regions and the Committee of the Regions ‘Reflecting on Europe’ initiative, we will bring together public policy-makers, healthcare professionals, representatives of social care, housing and voluntary sectors, academia and end users to discuss the experience of European regions and organisations in developing and delivering integrated health and social care. The event will also be an opportunity to explore the potential of the tool to facilitate the partnerships and knowledge transfer in order to accelerate the journey of European regions towards integrated care.

A SCIROCCO focus group met on 26 October 2017 at the Informatics Forum of the University of Edinburgh to explore ways of enhancing the SCIROCCO tool and reflect on current and potential uses of the tool, including for scaling-up.

In August 2017, 14 stakeholder associations tested the SCIROCCO tool to examine the maturity of Scotland’s integrated care system. Two months later, a smaller group was brought together to consolidate people’s collective experience and learning.

Workshop participants reinforced the fact that the SCIROCCO tool is easy-to-use, good at helping consensus-building, and helpful for enabling discussion and dialogue. They also offered insights into how the wording and technical aspects of the tool could be enhanced.

In terms of its current use, attendees focused on how useful the tool can be for scaling-up integrated care:

“On integrated care, the SCIROCCO tool’s not an end in itself. It’s about developing a more dynamic, learning system. You can go with naturally occurring teams, of whatever size and composition and levels and disciplines. … It’s about involving others, whether at an oversight level or at a granular level.”

Also

“It’s good to identify some dimensions of integrated care where there is some feeling that they are not as mature. It’s about sense-checking for the health and care partnerships. We’ve got the legislation about integrated care here in Scotland, but how is it that we’re actually working? This for me is SCIROCCO’s real value!”

A SCIROCCO focus group met on 3^rd October 2017 in the headquarters of Kronikgune, a research centre created by the Department of Health and Consumers Affairs of the Basque Country (Spain).

In June 2017, 9 local stakeholders completed a maturity assessment of the regional healthcare system using the SCIROCCO online self-assessment tool. This self-assessment was intended to reflect on the progress of the Basque Country towards integrated care. The local stakeholders were then invited for a face-to-face workshop to share their views and discuss the self-assessment outcomes and reach the final consensus.

The same group of local stakeholders people also reflected on their experience and lessons learned from the self-assessment process using the SCIROCCO tool. The focus group meeting, facilitated by SCIROCCO team members, examined the experience of the local stakeholders, including the potential impact of the tool and its further refinement and improvement.

The main conclusions that emerged from the focus group were:

• The great value of the SCIROCCO tool is its potential to generate consensus rather than the individual assessment.
• The use of the SCIROCCO tool is simple and concrete, and its application requires less time than any other tools.
• The SCIROCCO tool complements the other quality tools that exist in the Basque Country healthcare system.
• The self-assessment process using the SCIROCCO tool fosters individual or group reflections on particular aspects or dimensions of the system that people do not usually reflect.
• The results of the self-assessment process using the SCIROCCO tool provides a global overview of the system which allows making conclusions and prioritising the decision making in a particular domain of the system.

The Association for the Advancement of Assistive Technology (AAATE) and the Horizon 2020 project consortiums ProACT and IN LIFE, with support of the European Commission and the collaboration of EHTEL (European Health Telematics Association), SCIROCCO project, EASPD (the European Association of Service Providers to Persons with Disabilities) and the ECHAlliance (European Connected Health Alliance) organised the Change management seminar on 12 September 2017 in Sheffield.

The seminar assessed some of the success factors related to organisational change and how these factors have been managed during the up-scaling and transfer of successful experiences. We also looked at tools that can help to understand how to support implementation, scalability and transferability of digital health and care solutions in the UK and in Europe.

SCIROCCO contributed to the seminar by featuring the latest development in the self-assessment tool for integrated care and discussed with the participants how SCIROCCO tool can help us to better understand the contextual requirements necessary for the adoption and transferability of the integrated care solutions. In particular, the experience of the Basque Country and Norrbotten regions in applying SCIROCCO tool were featured at the event (see the presentations under Scirocco Resources).

The seminar was organised as a satellite event to the 2017 AAATE Conference. The conference addressed the global challenge of meeting the needs of the increasing number of people who could benefit from Assistive Technology. More information: www.aaate2017.eu