Health Tech Enterprise (HTE) has launched a Clinical Expert Community intended to tackle one of the persistent challenges facing medical technology innovators: gaining meaningful clinical insight during product development.
The initiative connects clinicians, nurses and allied health professionals with companies developing medical devices, digital health platforms and diagnostic technologies, with the aim of giving innovators access to the real-world expertise needed to create solutions that work in clinical practice.
HTE, a health technology consultancy that supports the development and adoption of healthcare solutions, said it launched the community in response to growing recognition that healthcare professionals need to be involved earlier in the innovation process. Too often, it said, promising technologies struggle to achieve widespread adoption because they fail to reflect frontline workflows, patient pathways and the realities of healthcare delivery.
Through the community, healthcare professionals will be able to review emerging technologies and give feedback on usability, implementation, patient impact and clinical workflows before products reach the market. The aim, HTE said, is to help innovators develop solutions that are practical, effective and better aligned with the needs of providers and patients, and ultimately to speed up the development and adoption of technologies that improve patient care.
Dr Anne Blackwood, chief executive of Health Tech Enterprise, said: “Healthcare professionals understand the challenges facing patient care better than anyone, yet innovators can often struggle to access that insight during product development. Our Clinical Expert Community connects healthcare professionals with MedTech innovators, helping to ensure new technologies are designed around real-world clinical needs, improve patient outcomes and are more likely to be successfully adopted in practice.”
Members will gain early visibility of emerging technologies relevant to their specialty and can choose to contribute through short surveys, interviews, virtual focus groups or hands-on usability evaluations. Participation is voluntary, with HTE managing engagement at arm’s length and contacting members only when opportunities align with their expertise and interests. Eligible projects may also offer honoraria or consulting fees in recognition of participants’ time and specialist knowledge.
Professor John Cleland, a cardiologist, added: “Healthcare is about partnerships. We need technical and therapeutic innovation; proving that they are useful and effective requires input from clinicians and access to the patients they care for. Fostering such partnerships and creating such opportunities is essential to improving patient care and also service efficiency and effectiveness.”
HTE said the initiative has been designed to fit around busy clinical schedules while maintaining robust governance, compliance and data privacy standards. It is now inviting clinicians, nurses and allied health professionals from all specialties to join the community.
