Apply Now for Australian Digital Health Services beyond COVID-19 Innovation Challenge

Deadline: 10 May 2020

Applications are now open for the Australian Digital Health Services beyond COVID-19, an Innovation Challenge – Accelerating transformation of digital health system.

The Australian Digital Health Agency is focused on both immediate responses to COVID-19 as it evolves into recovery management and shaping Australia’s digital healthcare systems for the better beyond national health emergencies.

While the rapid adoption of digital health services has presented some challenges, it also creates opportunity. So they are challenging innovators across Australia to come forward with scalable tools and solutions that position to improve digital health system.

They are looking for digital health solutions that will enable delivery of care in new ways, improve health outcomes, strengthen responses to health emergencies and accelerate digital health into the future.

Challenge Themes

Solutions need to fit into one of three challenge themes:

• Digital Clinical Care
  • How do they support Australians to confidently access healthcare and community health support services without compromising their health or that of others? This includes during a national emergency and/or the recovery period following:
    • Digital health solutions may focus on (but are not limited to):
      • Improving home-based clinical care.
      • Managing care pathways within healthcare settings and/or.
      • Enhancing national emergency preparedness infrastructure.
• Digital Social Care
  • How do they support easy access to digital health solutions for community members directly, or indirectly, impacted by COVID-19 a national emergency or other circumstance?
    • Digital health solutions may focus on (but are not limited to):
      • Supporting community members to engage with coordinated mental health and wellbeing plans.
      • Triaging and/or linking allied health, social workers or disability support with community members.
      • Improving personal recovery efforts for community members directly affected by COVID-19 (or other national emergencies).
• Digital Health Population Management and Future Preparedness
  • How do they improve population health outcomes through digital health solutions to help inform future (emergency or other) preparedness, health reform and recovery management?
    • Digital health solutions or infrastructure recommendations may focus on (but are not limited to):
      • Linking health systems strengthening, emergency preparedness and/or recovery management.
      • Identifying and implementing scalable use cases and evolve health sector to new agile ways of working.

Funding Information

Funding of up to $50,000 to help businesses demonstrate their solution to the Agency and collaboratively develop an implementation plan

What Support do you and your Solution Need?

The Australian Digital Health Agency is looking for solutions that have the potential to rapidly deliver their desired impact, but are facing barriers to scale that can help with. This means they will work with a small number of businesses that require specific support in areas such as:

• Navigating government policy and regulation
• Help navigating government policy and regulation to rapidly launch your solution with confidence.
• Facilitating partnerships across the health and digital health ecosystem
• The Agency can help make introductions and establish partnerships across the government, private sector and non-government sectors based on the needs of your business and solution.
• Exploring data and systems integrations
• The agency could help source publicly available data to shape the design and development of your solution, or scope possible integrations with existing products and systems.
• Funding support to develop a solution, and implementation plans
• Successful applicants will receive funding to help businesses demonstrate their solution to the Agency and develop an implementation plan in collaboration with them. Additional financial support is available to scale solutions, however, this will be defined based on supplemental industry offers to successful applicants in 2020/21.

Eligibility Criteria

You can apply to participate in the Innovation Challenge if you:

• Are an Australian business with the capacity to deliver your proposed solution:
  • They are supporting Australian businesses that have the resources and capabilities required to design, develop and deliver a digital healthcare solution at scale.
• Your solution has the potential to deliver impact in one or more of challenge themes
  • You have proposed a solution that addresses one or more of the Innovation Challenge themes, is feasible and can deliver impact to target users.

Evaluation Criteria

• Solution feasibility
  • How feasible is it that your organisation can deliver the proposed solution considering factors such as existing technologies, evidence of product market fit, financial capacity, supporting processes, partnerships and brand?
  • 30% weighting
• Company credibility and digital maturity
  • Does your organisation have a proven track record of delivering similar solutions and are you able to demonstrate a level of digital maturity required to scale the product?
  • 15% weighting
• Impact
  • What impact will the solution have on its target customers and the digital health system? Do you have specific targets or metrics for the solution’s intended benefits?
  • 40% weighting
• Barriers to scale and assistance needed
  • Have you clearly and transparently identified known barriers to scale, and defined support that the Agency can offer to help overcome these barriers?
  • 15% weighting

For more information, visit https://innovation.digitalhealth.gov.au/