40 GHP / Q1 2021 , Sep20772 Changing Health has sought to revolutionise howwe support people changing their behaviour through digital solutions. Here, they take amoment to discuss the background impact of COVID-19 and the stark reality it has presented to us: that we desperately need to adopt new technologies – to use every advantage given to us – to overcome health challenges. Leading Innovators in Diabetes Management Technology – UK With our headlines dominated by COVID 19, we need to urgently move beyond the second wave to look at the tsunami of chronic disease which is coming our way: • 10% of the NHS budget is spent on type 2 diabetes, a condition that for most people is preventable, manageable and reversible - yet we just don’t do it. • Digital Health has blossomed. But, less than 1% of the 3.7milliion people living with type 2 diabetes in the UK use digital health. Changing Health, a UK digital health company spun out of the NHS and NIHR, are disrupting the way type 2 diabetes is managed, prevented or reversed. By doing so, they are disrupting the digital health sector, and in a very good way. The last 5 years have seen a rapid growth of ‘me too apps’ consisting of education + tracking + support. Whilst these work well, they are too expensive or labour intensive to be used by everyone. Changing Health realised this and pivoted to deliver the next generation of digital health. The change in direction was driven by putting the patientuser at the centre of everything. That meant making digital health available to everyone. For type 2 diabetes in the UK, that means making digital health available to 3.7million users and that had never been done - anywhere, let alone in the UK. This user at the centric approach required a complete rebuild of their business, from how they provided services and digital infrastructure to their leadership. They moved from building a brand and providing direct to patients to a B2B2C model, rebranding as the client needs (whitelabelling). To accommodate multiple partners, languages and programmes, they built a smart infrastructure which reconfigures itself - one platform for many partners. Put these elements together and you get the holy grail of digital health……..scale. In 2019 their pivot was validated as they won the contract to deliver the NHS national programme for type 2 diabetes. This is the largest digital behaviour change programme globally. It also turned the business model on its head. Instead of groups of doctors surgeries paying Changing Health to support behaviour change, groups of doctors surgeries get paid for referring to the central NHS service which is built by Changing Health. Through this project, they became the first commercial company to build to government digital service standards in the health space. The Changing Health leadership team is made up of world-class talent, from Ashley DuqueKienzle, who retrained from behaviour change at Johns Hopkins University in the US, to a career in digital products and Artificial Intelligence with Amazon, Facebook and Babylon Health. Nick Imrie, a serial tech-entrepreneur, successfully building a series of high performing teams and userfocussed businesses. Finally, the team is led by Mike Trenell, Changing Health’s CEO, whos stellar rise has been him publish 120+ peer-reviewed papers, and become one of the UK’s youngest Professors. Mike then moved into leadership where he successfully led one of the most high-risk digital transformations within the healthcare system to be a finalist of the GB Entrepreneur of the Year. Not surprisingly, 2020 has seen a continuation of that meteoric rise, with a strategic partnership with Publicis, one of the worlds largest Communications and PR companies. An innovation programme with a multinational pharmaceutical company as they look to embrace services over products. Finally, a successful launch in the Netherlands with Menzis, a leading Dutch healthcare insurer. The Changing Health team are not satisfied with stopping there. 2021 and beyond will see the next generation of their platform released, using state of the art digital platforms and artificial intelligence to provide the right care at the right time and at scale. Importantly, rather than battling against the ‘me too digital health apps’, Changing Health might actually help them scale too, by getting the right person to the right programme. Truly transformative. Watch this name, as Changing Health is on a mission to change health. If the past two years are anything to go by, Changing Health will.
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