By Victoria Donougher 
There was much excitement at the start of the BHBIA’s first in-person annual conference since 2019. The first day didn’t disappoint with great discussions and thought-provoking papers that all agreed that digital engagement across the healthcare sector had seen exponential growth post-Covid.
Mark Gallagher from Performance Insights opened the conference and talked about the importance of data insights throughout his experience in Formula 1. He talked about the impact of Aarton Senna’s death and how that weekend was the catalyst for making sure that the clever teams at Formula 1 became focused on how to manage risk and how data insights helped the businesses and teams involved to do just that.
Mark told the BHBIA audience that when there is a lot of data, almost too much to consider, you need to focus on the anomalies – to look at the data that is showing performances outside the correct operation range. He reminded us that the truth is always in the data and concluded that in the world of sport, as it is for most areas of business, data and technology are the enablers for amazing human performances.
Later in the morning, Dan Gallagher and Dave Kaye introduced a great session that highlighted the struggles of people living with Long Covid. They talked about the uncertainty that lots of patients were reporting and their desire for some kind of online forum or hub support that allowed them to share symptoms and tried/tested ways of coping with some of the side effects of Long Covid.
Debrah Harding from MRS talked about the changing landscape of data and compliance in a post-Covid, post-Brexit world. She gave her advice on how to navigate compliance and data issues after “the pandemic accelerated the move towards digital and passive techniques”.
In the afternoon, Hannah Osborn hosted an interesting Q&A session with Stephen Godwin and Tim Straughan about the future of the NHS. They discussed different models for how the NHS could evolve and how healthcare infrastructures could be delivered to improve both medical and social care.
Day 1 of the Annual Conference finished with Sophie Aziz talking about the brilliant work of medical detection dogs who are working across a number of pioneering research projects that train dogs to sniff out disease and illness, including cancer, blood sugar changes and Covid-19.
In the evening, BHBIA hosted their annual BOBI (Best Of Business Intelligence) Awards, which recognise excellence across the healthcare business intelligence spectrum. CREATION.co were delighted to win the Chair’s Award: Best Response to COVID-19 for their work with Frontline.Live during the pandemic. You can read more about the project and why the judges thought we were deserving of the win here (link to BOBI Awards piece).
If you would like to discuss how insights from healthcare professionals’ online conversations could enable your team then get in touch, we would love to chat.
