Challenges

Challenge 1

Advancing Breast Cancer Screening and Early Diagnostics

How can we ensure widespread, more precise and timely diagnosis of breast cancer?  

Breast cancer remains a significant public health concern, and addressing challenges in screening and diagnostics is pivotal for improving patient outcomes. Early detection saves lives. Timely diagnosis enhances treatment options, reduces the severity of interventions, and significantly improves the chances of survival. In Slovakia, there’s a pressing need for solutions that overcome barriers to screening, empower healthcare professionals, and harness the potential of advanced technologies. This challenge seeks innovative solutions to enhance breast cancer screening accessibility, leverage cutting-edge technologies, and promote awareness, education, and interdisciplinary collaboration. 

Expected focus of value proposition and unique selling point:  

Access to screening – Technological integration – Awareness and education – Data privacy & security – Addressing healthcare disparities – Follow up & treatment pathways 

Challenge 2

Remote patient monitoring of MS patients

How can we monitor the “silent” progression of MS in patients without patient visits to a physician?   

Multiple sclerosis (MS) poses unique challenges for patients and healthcare providers. This challenge seeks innovative solutions to overcome barriers in remote patient monitoring, ensuring effective and patient-centric care for individuals with MS, helping to minimise the delays in recognition of disease advancement. The solutions should enable patients to monitor their progress themselves and to help physicians to make prompt interventions in disease management. 

Expected focus of value proposition and unique selling point:  

Technology accessibility – Data security and privacy – User engagement – Regulatory compliance – Integration with care plans – Data reliability  

Challenge 3

Integrated Healthcare Referral Challenge: Bridging Gaps in Patient Transitions

How can we ensure continuum of care for patients transitioning between different specialists or healthcare providers?

1. Enhancing ophthalmology referrals

The lack of digital connectivity among retina centres and ophthalmologists hinders the efficiency of patient referrals, relying on traditional methods like phone or email. This challenge aims to bridge this gap by leveraging technology to create a seamless, secure, and user-friendly digital solution for patient referrals within the ophthalmology ecosystem.  

Expected focus of value proposition and unique selling point:  

Digital and technological connectivity – efficiency – user friendly solutions – interoperability and integration with existing systems – data & security – user engagement    

1. Streamlining Post-Surgery Oncology Referrals 

People with early-detected lung cancer undergo surgery and are told to find an oncologist after leaving the hospital. Many patients lack access to follow-up care because they come late or believe that surgery alone cured them. Moreover, the follow-up referrals are currently not happening automatically due to challenges in cooperation between surgeons and oncologists. We would like to find innovative solutions to help assess the patients after surgery and refer them to the right place to get the necessary follow-up support they need to achieve the best treatment outcomes. The challenge is to create a system to guide patients to the right oncologist or centers after surgery, ensuring they don’t have to search for one themselves.  

Expected focus of value proposition and unique selling point:  

Patient awareness and engagement – interoperability and integration with existing systems – data & security 

Challenge 4

Transforming Medical Education for Physicians

How can we enable physicians to get access to relevant medical education in a more engaging way?

Traditional medical education methods may not fully engage physicians, hindering continuous learning and professional development. This challenge calls for innovative solutions to enable physicians to access relevant medical education in a more engaging and user-friendly manner. We seek platforms or solutions that deliver high-quality, interactive, and captivating medical education, applicable not only in higher education but also throughout the entire career journey.

Expected focus of value proposition and unique selling point:

User experience & engagement – compliance & regulations – gamification – quality content – networking – sustainability