The European Federation of Allergies and Airways Diseases (EFA) has launched a prize to welcome applications from innovators whose digital products improve the lives and health of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients in Europe.
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The EFA Patients’ Digital Prize takes stock of the incremental use of patients and carers of connected medical devices, telemedicine, and e-health apps, as well as digital health platforms to manage their care.
The EFA Patients’ Digital Prize is set to recognise digital health solutions addressing asthma and COPD patients’ needs while empowering them to manage their care. As a patient initiative, the Jury will be especially looking for innovations that embed patients’ input from development to implementation, are accessible for patients’ use, and facilitate dialogue between patients, healthcare professionals, and the digital sector.
The submission and selection criteria have been informed by EFA’s ‘DIG_IT Report: Asthma and COPD Patients’ Digital Journey in Europe’. The report, launched in June 2022, is the outcome of a survey to over 900 patients in five European countries about patients’ reported benefits, barriers, and concerns around digital health.
Carla Jones, president of EFA, said: “If we are to strengthen healthcare systems with the support of digital tools that bring value to patients, patients’ needs must be included early and often in the digital design process. Co-creation with patients and integration of user feedback are key to improve the management of asthma and COPD and to develop the necessary partnership between the digital sector, patients, and healthcare providers.”
The application is open until 27th March 2023. All information is publicly available in EFA’s website (https://efanet.org/inform/patient-evidence/dig-it/prize).
