Ten new e-health projects were launched during the Digital Health Hackathon
By: Helen Staak
Tags: Study Digital Health, Change Management, Hackathon, Health Innovation, Digital Health

5th Digital Health Hackathon

The fifth Digital Health hackathon was held in the framework of the Digital Health MSc programme at TalTech. In two days, ten new ideas were launched, including business ideas for digital health and health projects that can be implemented on state level. This year, the hybrid-format event was organised in cooperation with the E-Governance Technologies and Services master's programme.

The first award, presented by the Health Founders health accelerator — a fast-track pass to the health care accelerator programme and a possibility to develop the project in cooperation with the Estonian Health Insurance Fund, was given to team ScreenMe — a group focused on creating a new notification model for the screenings of cervical, breast and colon cancer.

The award of 500 euros by Ülemiste City was given to team HELGA, a digital health solution that calculates the score of diabetes risk and offers a 12-year health prevention plan.

The prize of a direct pass to participate in the business idea development competition Prototron TOP 50, a 10-hour mentoring session and a quick pass to the panel of the Tehnopol Startup Incubator was given to team myOuch — a solution analysing people’s pain patterns via artificial intelligence. This team advanced the most in two days by creating a clickable prototype.

ScreenMe team and jury members Erki Mölder and Kitty Kubo

Special focus this year was on health and support services for the elderly. A direct pass to Silver Finder accelerator development programme was given to two teams — an automatic event and friend finder SEMU for the elderly, and ePharmaPass, a solution that helps to improve the access to medications for the patients of nursing homes and assists them in the correct following of the treatment regime. Additionally, ePharmaPass was awarded three fundraising consultation meetings with Estonian Business Angels Network EstBAN.

For the students of Digital Health, the hackathon was just the beginning. “In the Health Care Technology study programme, students shall continue with a semester project that supports finding problem-based solutions and the development of teamwork,” noted Priit Kruus, the head of the Digital Health master's programme. “From these semester projects, proposals for digital health policy changes and world-changing start-ups could emerge, as proven by last year’s projects,” he added.

Final pitches

The hackathon held on 1 -2 December brought together 51 participants from the TalTech’s study programmes Digital Health and E-Governance Technologies and Services, and from the Tallinn Health Care College. 16 experts were included to offer advice and support for the participants during the two days. The jury included Erki Mölder from the Health Founders health economy accelerator, Kitty Kubo from the Estonian Health Insurance Fund, Anu Oks from the Estonian Business Angels Network EstBAN, Jana Budkovskaja from Prototron, Piret Hirv from Connected Health Cluster and Tehnopol, and Regina Erlenheim from TalTech.