The Patients’ Digital Health Awards winners were announced in the virtual ceremony last Friday. After carefully considering the applications from over 13 European countries, Patient Associations chose 3 digital health solutions that improve the quality of life of patients and caregivers. As a partner of this initiative, we are proud to see a diverse list of digital health innovators receiving recognition for person-centric solutions at the time when the digitisation of healthcare is accelerating at an unprecedented speed.

Here are the PDHA winners:

Best Project. Pinktrainer, an online platform for cancer patients’ care and rehabilitation developed by startup entrepreneurs from the Netherlands. Pinktrainer is used by health professionals to provide personalised and evidence-based exercise and nutrition plans for patients before, during and after cancer treatment. The platform also tracks the effects of treatment and medication. 

COVID-19 Solution. TreC Pediatria, a secure telemedicine platform for pediatricians and their patients, developed by TrentinoSalute4.0, a centre for digital health of the Province of Trento. The platform’s development involved end-users from the very beginning: developers interviewed families and doctors to understand their needs better. As a result, the pilot study has shown a high level of satisfaction from the users. 

Best Idea. Horpheus, a system that uses AI-powered devices and algorithms to monitor sudden nocturnal epileptic seizures. The system uses both software and hardware tools, including bluetooth wrist sensors and bands for sleep detection. It is being developed by Hassisto, a spinoff from the National Research Council of Italy. 

One of the runners-up was Ancora.Ai, a startup from Switzerland that has developed an AI-powered platform that enables patients to easily find relevant clinical trials. The platform also helps patients and volunteers find and track the COVID-19 clinical trials and provides information on how to enrol in them.

The PDHA winners and applicants demonstrate that startups come in all shapes and sizes. Digital health entrepreneurs as well as institutions and public organisations are involved in the development of digital health solutions to address the needs of patients and support the health care systems in tackling COVID-19. 

While the pandemic has accelerated the digitisation of healthcare, there are still many challenges that need to be addressed. For example, access to quality health data is paramount to the success of digital health projects. The European Health Data Space, currently being developed by the European Commission, has the potential to overcome health data access barriers, lack of interoperability, and harmonise the different Member States rules on the secondary use of data for research and innovation. 

At Allied for Startups, we believe it is essential that all key stakeholders – digital health innovators, patients and political decision makers – work together to reduce barriers in health innovation. For this reason, we will bring together the PDHA winners and European policy makers to discuss the opportunities and challenges the digital health sector is facing. Stay tuned for more information about the upcoming virtual event in December! 

You can find the PDHA award ceremony and our congratulatory message here.