September 2021
Accord Healthcare (Accord) announced the launch of Unify Health – a new app for cancer patients and their carers undergoing treatment. This new resource has been devised by experts from across the cancer community to support and advise people on their physical and mental wellbeing whilst undergoing cancer treatment. The app can also connect patients with not just local pharmacists in their area but also community pharmacists who have trained to become ‘Community Cancer Champions.’ Experts at the Royal Marsden Hospital, a world-leading cancer centre and teaching institution have helped to develop a practical, bite-size training curriculum for the community pharmacists who wish to become Community Cancer Champions. The training provides advice on how to talk to and assist cancer patients, particularly around managing symptoms and worries. Undergoing cancer treatment can be bewildering, with an array of advice and support available from many different sources. This has only been made worse during the COVID-19 pandemic, as cancer patients may have felt the need to avoid healthcare facilities, for fear of being put at greater risk of coming into contact with the virus.
Unify Health aims to be an app that is always accessible, no matter whether it is night or day that provides cancer patients a toolkit of tailored advice and information with the ability to locate community pharmacists with training on the management of cancer symptoms. Confidentiality is central to development of trust between patient and healthcare professionals. Ensuring privacy can help promote more effective communication and promote public confidence in the platform.
“The Pryv solution allowed us to underpin our application with a secure and compliant platform for data storage bringing the application to market more rapidly than had that element been developed bespoke. Regulatory compliance in terms of personal data was at the heart of what we were trying to achieve here. All personal data collected within the app is managed via the Pryv.io patient data governance software and no patient data leaves the relevant territories (i.e. UK patient data stays in the UK, EU patient data stays in the EU). Pryv comes with must-have consent and auditing tools to keep the platform compliant with existing and forthcoming regulations.Their team were always on hand to support us through the onboarding and implementation stages of the project.” said Alex Williams, Head of Digital at Swordfish Advertising.
About Unify Health: Unify Health has been devised by experts from the healthcare industry working with hospitals,
community pharmacists, clinicians, nurses, patient groups and charities to make support and advice more readily available to cancer patients. It provides a toolkit of tailored advice and information, plus a map to connect them with nearby local community pharmacists. Unify Health is available on both the Android and Apple app stores.
Pryv SA (Switzerland): Pryv makes essential software for personal and health data-driven innovation. Our purpose-built middleware helps organizations manage personal data from creation to use, sharing and disposal. We accelerate time to market, cut IT development costs and speed up connectivity to all data sources. Pryv addresses the enhanced citizen’s right under GDPR and turns privacy compliance into a competitive advantage. For more information, please visit www.pryv.com
Swordfish Advertising: Swordfish Advertising is a fully integrated pharmaceutical and veterinary healthcare marketing and communications agency. Swordfish has undertaken all the development work of the Unify Health app.