eHealth: from Idea to Impact

Aim

The purpose of the course is for students to develop knowledge and abilities within the field of entrepreneurship and innovation within the early stages of development. Focus is on the formulation and development of entrepreneurial and innovative technological ideas in eHealth and includes some ability to assess the potential of commercialization.

The learning outcomes are that students should:

• demonstrate and communicate basic knowledge on tools for idea development
• be able to give an account of the information and analyses required to verify and validate an idea and have ability to assess its commercial potential
• describe, on an overall level, the regulatory framework relevant to eHealth and, for a given idea, identify relevant parts of this framework
• describe the development, implementation, and assessment of business ideas in the eHealth area, including how individuals and organizations can participate in this development.
• Identify potential challenges for integration of new technologies and methods in existing health care systems and patient flows; formulate strategies to promote clinical adoption.

Content

The course contains four key themes:

• Innovation and impact – Different perspectives on technological innovation and its subsequent professional and societal impact, in general and in the context of eHealth. Characteristics of innovative ventures and their potential consequences: positive, negative or unintended. Methods and considerations for integration of new technologies in established healthcare systems.
• Idea development – The process to develop an idea into a business model with focus on how to formulate and develop an idea within eHealth in collaboration with individuals and organizations. How to protect an idea and how to gain entry on a market. Requirements for ventures to become viable.
• Regulatory framework relevant to eHealth, such as GDPR, medical technology regulations, intellectual property regulations, patient data regulations etc.
• Assessment and certification – We will discuss how to evaluate new technologies and methods as they are introduced into eHealth settings in terms of frameworks from Medical Device Authority (MDA) classification, risk assessment, and CE-marking requirements.