MY LIFE PLAN is an online adult weight management plan. It was created by MoreLife, a subsidiary company of Leeds Beckett University which provides programmes and services to individuals to help them change their behaviours.
MY LIFE PLAN is promoted by NHS England as one of three digital options for those wishing to live a healthier life.
Produced by a small team, MY LIFE PLAN takes a scientific approach to weight management, looking at the whole person. “It’s not about calories in, calories out,” said Howard Samson, Digital Product Manager. “We look at sleep, exercise and portion size. This isn’t a quick fix, it’s a lifestyle change.
“When it comes to our competitor apps (like Noom and Slimming World), we are a small fish in a big pond but we are unique in that we give a very personal touch, with one-on-one coaching from dieticians as part of our level two offer. A lot of people come to us when they’ve tried and failed with one of the bigger names and want to do something different.”
When MY LIFE PLAN first launched with NHS England in April 2021, such was the demand that extra dieticians were recruited almost immediately. To date, two thousand clients have joined the 12- week programme and there should be capacity for 30,000 per year in the longer term.
As an NHS supplier MY LIFE PLAN needed to complete the new DTAC (Digital Technology Assessment Criteria). The team was aware this would be a complex, lengthy process not a quick fix and that being DTAC-certified was a moving feast. They could pass one day and on the next day one of the many regulations against which they’d been measured could be changed or added to, or they’d update their own programme, and they’d need to re-submit.
MY LIFE PLAN selected ORCHA as its partner for the DTAC. The process took five months and was achieved in a series of steps, with sections submitted and feedback given.
As part of the DTAC, the programme was tested against usability and accessibility plus its technical security and robustness. The DTAC also considers clinical safety and risk, medical device regulations, data protection and user journeys, amongst many other factors, depending on the nature of the product.
Where the developers needed more support, ORCHA offered subject specialists to give clarification. For example, when the security of the programme was raised, the ORCHA review team put Howard in touch with colleagues who were experts in penetration and performance testing. This approach was also taken with the data protection element of the programme.
The MY LIFE PLAN team were conscious that keeping on top of DTAC requirements was not a one-off job but a continuous process and it was recommended that they signed up for an ORCHA subscription package, so that their programme could be kept in a ‘compliance vault’ and regularly reviewed against any regulatory or in-programme changes.
Howard said:
“The DTAC is brand new, so we have nothing to compare it to but I know we all feel we’ve had great support through a complex process. ORCHA’s experts have been very clear and have broken down all the complexity so it’s become manageable.”
Liz Ashall-Payne, founding CEO of ORCHA, said:
“We have many clients preparing to go through the DTAC with us. The process takes time, as there is a lot of documentation to gather. Also, if the developer team is small and they don’t have some necessary expertise in-house, it can be held up, although there are many areas where we can provide support.
“Our advice is to treat the DTAC as a live process and to gear up for frequent re-reviews so that your app or programme remains fully compliant once the initial certification is complete.”
If you would like more information, or to book your DTAC, please email hello@orchahealth.com
Developers of digital health products can now have a partner to lead them through every step of the planning, accreditation, certification and distribution process for their innovation.
And thanks to a new ‘compliance vault’ system, their digital health product can now be continuously reviewed against the changing standards required by any country in the world.
ORCHA, the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Apps, is the world’s leading digital health review and distribution organisation, operating in 12 countries and providing app libraries in 70 per cent of NHS regions in the UK.
It has now launched a comprehensive series of service options, ranging from one-off market insight reports through to a full-service option for health and care app developers which includes access to clinical specialists plus unlimited assessments of how their app performs against international standards such as the UK’s DTAC (Digital Technology Assessment Criteria) and ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation).
Liz Ashall-Payne, founding CEO of ORCHA, said:
“With more than 350 standards governing health app compliance in the UK alone, app development and assessment is an incredibly complex area. We want to make sure the incredible innovation in this sector has the chance to shine. All digital health products must have the relevant and appropriate assessment and be afforded the same level of diligence as we would expect to see for a medical device.”
“A significant challenge, as demonstrated by the new DTAC in the UK, is that regulatory compliance is always in flux. The moment you update your app, or the moment a new regulation is introduced or altered, your app needs to be re-tested.
“We can now offer a ‘compliance vault’, so that apps in our care can be under our governance, with automatic reviews triggered by any changes. This ongoing triage service is offered through one of our subscription options.”
Service options from ORCHA now include:
• National body review and certification – a one-off service which includes support with the certification process with DTAC, ISO and many other international health assessment schemes.
• Insights and horizon scanning reports, suitable for those planning to develop a digital health or care solution, and for more mature innovators looking to extend market reach.
• Three subscription levels, which all include a compliance vault for the app. Option 1 offers compliance assessments and regular re-review, option 2 adds competitor benchmarking and access to clinical specialists and option 3 adds unlimited international assessment.
For further information about ORCHA’s services, contact katie.gillet@orcha.co.uk
About ORCHA
Founded by NHS clinicians, ORCHA is the world’s leading digital health evaluation and distribution organisation. We provide services to national health bodies across three continents, including the NHS in 50% of UK regions, delivering national accreditation frameworks, bespoke Digital Health Libraries, and professional recommendation tools, specific to the needs of our clients. ORCHA’s unique Review Engine assesses digital health solutions against more than 350 measures across Clinical/Professional Assurance, Data & Privacy, and Usability & Accessibility, plus additional criteria depending on needs.
The Digital Technology Assessment Criteria for health and social care (DTAC) gives staff, patients and citizens confidence that the digital health tools they use meet clinical safety, data protection, technical security, interoperability, usability, and accessibility standards.
To accelerate the adoption of the DTAC across NHS and Social Services, we are offering a 10% discount on ORCHA DTAC reviews booked at HETT.
ORCHA conducts independent, expert DTAC certification. We have assessed digital health products, such as My Life Plan, against the DTAC. Read more about their experience of the DTAC below.
To book your DTAC, see us at Stand C52 or email katie.gillett@orcha.co.uk
MY LIFE PLAN is an online adult weight management plan. It was created by MoreLife, a subsidiary company of Leeds Beckett University which provides programmes and services to individuals to help them change their behaviours.
MY LIFE PLAN is promoted by NHS England as one of three digital options for those wishing to live a healthier life.
Produced by a small team, MY LIFE PLAN takes a scientific approach to weight management, looking at the whole person. “It’s not about calories in, calories out,” said Howard Samson, Digital Product Manager. “We look at sleep, exercise and portion size. This isn’t a quick fix, it’s a lifestyle change.
“When it comes to our competitor apps (like Noom and Slimming World), we are a small fish in a big pond but we are unique in that we give a very personal touch, with one-on-one coaching from dieticians as part of our level two offer. A lot of people come to us when they’ve tried and failed with one of the bigger names and want to do something different.”
When MY LIFE PLAN first launched with NHS England in April 2021, such was the demand that extra dieticians were recruited almost immediately. To date, two thousand clients have joined the 12- week programme and there should be capacity for 30,000 per year in the longer term.
As an NHS supplier MY LIFE PLAN needed to complete the new DTAC (Digital Technology Assessment Criteria). The team was aware this would be a complex, lengthy process not a quick fix and that being DTAC-certified was a moving feast. They could pass one day and on the next day one of the many regulations against which they’d been measured could be changed or added to, or they’d update their own programme, and they’d need to re-submit.
MY LIFE PLAN selected ORCHA as its partner for the DTAC. The process took five months and was achieved in a series of steps, with sections submitted and feedback given.
As part of the DTAC, the programme was tested against usability and accessibility plus its technical security and robustness. The DTAC also considers clinical safety and risk, medical device regulations, data protection and user journeys, amongst many other factors, depending on the nature of the product.
Where the developers needed more support, ORCHA offered subject specialists to give clarification. For example, when the security of the programme was raised, the ORCHA review team put Howard in touch with colleagues who were experts in penetration and performance testing. This approach was also taken with the data protection element of the programme.
The MY LIFE PLAN team were conscious that keeping on top of DTAC requirements was not a one-off job but a continuous process and it was recommended that they signed up for an ORCHA subscription package, so that their programme could be kept in a ‘compliance vault’ and regularly reviewed against any regulatory or in-programme changes.
Howard said:
“The DTAC is brand new, so we have nothing to compare it to but I know we all feel we’ve had great support through a complex process. ORCHA’s experts have been very clear and have broken down all the complexity so it’s become manageable.”
Liz Ashall-Payne, founding CEO of ORCHA, said:
“We have many clients preparing to go through the DTAC with us. The process takes time, as there is a lot of documentation to gather. Also, if the developer team is small and they don’t have some necessary expertise in-house, it can be held up, although there are many areas where we can provide support.
“Our advice is to treat the DTAC as a live process and to gear up for frequent re-reviews so that your app or programme remains fully compliant once the initial certification is complete.”
About ORCHA
Founded by NHS clinicians, ORCHA is the world’s leading digital health evaluation and distribution organisation. We provide services to national health bodies across three continents, including the NHS in 50% of UK regions, delivering national accreditation frameworks, bespoke Digital Health Libraries, and professional recommendation tools, specific to the needs of our clients. ORCHA’s unique Review Engine assesses digital health solutions against more than 350 measures across Clinical/Professional Assurance, Data & Privacy, and Usability & Accessibility, plus additional criteria depending on needs.
After learning about the benefits of the Digital Health programme commissioned by Our Dorset, Seven Integrated Care Systems Across the South West have also introduced the ORCHA system to empower citizens, increase their digital maturity, achieve consistency in Digital Health across the system and achieve cost savings.
A partnership of health and social care organisations working together, Our Dorset holds the ambition for its 750,000 residents to lead healthier, fulfilling lives supported by sustainable health and care services. But the ICS faces real challenges. Similar to many regions, Dorset is facing significant workforce gaps in nearly every area of care and its population is ageing, bringing more long-term conditions, and placing a growing demand on its services.
To address this challenge, the ICS understood the importance of breaking down barriers to the health and social care system in empowering citizens with digital health tools. It first aimed to lay solid foundations for public facing digital health and apps were agreed to be a key building block.
Recognising the barriers in culture to embed the offering of digital health tools being firstly awareness and secondly accessibility, Dorset looked for a partner that would provide a single point of navigation both for the workforce and population in surfacing digital health tools in a simple way. Rather than select point products , it identified ORCHA as its partner in enabling a comprehensive closed loop system for all of the ICS digital health needs. The partnership with ORCHA enables continuous horizon scans, identifying the best technologies and developers to work with. The clinically designed evaluation process assesses these digital tools against relevant measures and if appropriate, surfaces them in a library that has a good user experience in searching and filtering to download and use such tools by choice. It continues to re-evaluate each tool when a developer does an update which helps assure the ICS and recommender on the safety of such tools. Its closed loop system also safeguards product and regulatory changes.
So in early 2020, Our Dorset commissioned ORCHA to assess digital health, develop a formulary of digital health products for priority areas, build a bespoke health app library demonstrating its use to the workforce and empowering them in how to signpost, and where commissioned prescribe digital health tools. With ORCHA, Our Dorset delivered a programme that mitigated risk and assured clinical teams they are recommending safe apps during the pandemic to enable accelerated access to services from home.
When the AHSNs, CIOs and CCIOs from across the South West learned about the programme, the benefits of rolling out the system across the South West were clear. As although digital health had been adopted across the South West, it had only been part of other initiatives. For example, digital health was used in programmes to address remote monitoring and COPD.
Because of this, and other Digital priorities, no single role had taken a step back and taken a holistic system wide oversight to digital health and the culture change for such services in its entirety. What Our Dorset demonstrated is that when a system wide perspective is adopted for digital health, benefit is seen across the whole health and care system, not just condition or issue-specific pockets.
Transformation Boards universally agreed that the solution would particularly add real value in the prevention space, easing pressure on the system. They also reported that it should not be viewed separately to COVID, but part of the COVID recovery plans.
Faced with an already stretched workforce, concern was expressed around resource requirements. However, as Our Dorset managed the programme led by one person, bringing in wider teams such as clinicians and marketing when needed, for a period of months; this concern was allayed.
The seven ICSs commissioned ORCHA to manage digital health assessment and distribution across the South West. All seven ICSs would collectively benefit ORCHA’s governance and assessments, including Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC) a baseline for digital health technologies to adhere to, enabling patients and the system to adopt relevant, safe and innovative technologies more quickly. This meant that staff and patients would have access to a consistent digital health toolkit, whilst each ICS would have its own digital health library, giving it the flexibility to choose its own health priorities and maintain its own brand. With Our Dorset being the host organisation, all organisations have signed up to the programme individually.
It was agreed that in every organisation, the roll-out would be led by Primary care. Each then looked for governance in which to anchor its deployment; this could be long term condition management, personalised care, healthy ageing, or anticipatory care, as they all share common ground with digital health benefits.
Each ICS worked with ORCHA to build its own personalised app library, giving professionals and the public to assess apps, and highlighting what good looks like for digital health tools. To assist, Our Dorset gave examples of areas they have seen good traction, including wellbeing, weight management, smoking and Musculoskeletal (MSK).
To aid workforce adoption and empower the skills and knowledge to use the app library and trust the digital tools featured, training was rolled out across a range of cohorts. Feedback was positive and teams valued that the system can act as their horizon scanning tool for new technologies.
To help assess the impact on workforce digital readiness, pre and post deployments were conducted across every ICS.
The seven organisations in this programme now have a system-wide approach. They have a single point of navigation to a wide range of digital health tools across long term condition management, wellbeing, screening and diagnostics, assured they have undergone due diligence.
It is essential today that digital literacy is made a priority for any workforce. The training programme delivered as part of the roll out helped to educate staff on digital health, giving them the professional development and confidence to recommend digital first. With staff shortages, having consistent training and tools also gives the system flexibility in movement.
Commissioning and managing the system across seven ICS areas is not only delivering consistency for staff and patients, but it is also delivering cost savings. Comparing the roll-out to a single organisation the group has reduced costs by thirty per cent. This doesn’t even take into account the cost savings delivered by each digital health technology tool within the app library that helps individuals better manage their health.
Since launching its programme, Our Dorset has seen significant impact. As they prepare to launch their libraries, the other six ICSs across the South West will be looking to achieve similar results. As in Dorset there have been almost 37,205 pages viewed on the site (up to the end of July 2021), and in one month alone, the app library achieved nearly 5,500 page views. Social prescribers are actively recommending apps to service users and vitally, this advice is being acted upon, with almost 2283 apps recommended to date and 56% of recommended apps downloaded, which is a very good engagement rate, especially compared with other services. The most popular search terms include Mental Health, MSK, Dementia, Diabetes and Cancer. Some of the most popular apps to be viewed are Wysa: Stress, Depression & Anxiety Therapy, Sleepio, NHS Weight Loss Plan and Musculoskeletal (MSK) Self Care, providing a range of health interventions and show that apps are being selected to improve the physical and mental health of the population.
The roll out has put in place the coordination needed to assure that the digital health technologies recommended by a team of 2,800 professionals across almost 50 organisations within the 7 ICSs, consistently not only meets standards, but pinpoints the best solution for every patient, in the 5.6 million population it serves.
Commenting on the programme, Crystal Dennis, Interim Lead for Digital Access to Service @Home, Our Dorset Digital, said:
“After Transformation Boards learned of what had been achieved in Dorset, everyone was unanimous in the view that it was a no-brainer to roll out an app library powered by ORCHA across the seven ICS organisations. For safety, practical and effectiveness reasons, it’s a foundation platform that every part of the health and social care teams should have access to.
“It is possible for an organisation to get to where we are now. But it will be harder, take longer and cost an awful lot more.”