Neu Health, a spin-out company from the University of Oxford developed a digital platform for people with Parkinson’s and dementia. The innovation facilitates patient empowerment and enables clinicians to close the care management and data gap between clinic visits, as well as reduce unnecessary journeys for both patients and healthcare professionals. The company required a carbon-impact model to show its environmental impact in line with the NHS zero carbon reduction plan.
The Technology
Parkinson’s disease, dementia and other neurodegenerative conditions are fast becoming the biggest causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. By 2050, 200 million people are predicted to be living with these conditions.
Neu Health enables clinicians, care givers and patients to tackle this growing challenge with cutting-edge digital technologies designed to make the latest care accessible for all, improving outcomes today and accelerating future breakthroughs.
Built on 10 years of research and clinical validation by neurologists, neurocientists and data scientists from the University of Oxford, their innovative smartphone-based platform and patient programme is designed to monitor and translate digital measures of clinically relevant symptoms – optimising condition management, reducing clinician burden and ultimately improving outcomes.
Health Tech Enterprise evaluated the potential CO2 equivalents from journeys made by patients and healthcare professionals while also taking into account the carbon footprint of the innovation itself. An extensive decision analytical model was built to compare the CO2 emissions of current care with the CO2 emissions of care using the innovation. Uncertainties were accounted for using probabilistic sensitivity analysis.
Outcomes
The CO2 emissions analysis showed statistically significant carbon savings delivered primarily via a reduction in unnecessary journeys that would be potentially achievable through adoption of the innovation.
“This work has helped us show the positive impact the Neu Health platform has in supporting the NHS net zero commitments”. Caroline Cake, CEO, Neu Health
