The Trinity Challenge on Antimicrobial Resistance
MedShr Infection Treatment Program
Short solution summary:
MedShr connects over 2.8 million doctors and HCPs globally through medical education. It is uniquely positioned to combat AMR with two main strategies:
1. MedShr Infection Treatment Education with certification in Anti-Microbial Stewardship.
2. MedShr Infection Treatment Reports providing real world data from HCPs on infection management and antibiotic prescribing.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team based?
London, UKWho is the Team Lead for your solution?
Dr Asif Qasim
Founder and CEO
Which Challenge Objective does your solution most closely address?
What specific problem are you solving?
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the greatest threats to global health and has substantial economic implications particularly in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). It is estimated that in 2019, 4.95 million deaths globally were associated with bacterial AMR, with the greatest burden being borne by countries in western sub-Saharan region.
1. Addressing HCP Knowledge Gaps
Healthcare professionals (HCPs) play an important role in addressing AMR. In 2015, the WHO implemented a Global Action Plan, noting that significant HCP knowledge gaps exist, and are hampering efforts to reduce AMR, with numerous studies showing these gaps in LMICs. Education on AMR and antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) is a key part of the WHO policy.
The MedShr Infection Treatment (MIT) Program addresses these educational gaps for HCPs. This will be initially in Nigeria, with plans to extend to other countries in the region, and other LMICs.
2. Data on Infection Management
There is limited data on the use of antibiotics in LMICs, and around whether prescribing is in accordance with the principles of AMS. Gathering novel data from HCPs using MIT Reports will provide insights into real world practice around antibiotic prescribing and infection management allowing a systematic, data-driven approach to tackling AMR.
Who does your solution serve, and what needs of theirs does it address?
MedShr users include doctors, nurses, and other registered HCPs, and our clients and partners are from a wide range of academic and commercial organisations as indicated in the attached PDF. We provide a trusted, secure platform for clinical learning, case discussion and medical education.
MIT Education
Our experience of AMR education combined with published data on HCP knowledge gaps in AMR have helped to develop our educational needs assessment. MIT Education and AMS certification respond to these needs.
MedShr AMR education and AMS certification will be made available to doctors and HCPs in LMICs with an initial focus on Nigeria. Pharmacists and nurses will be important segments of the target audience.
MIT Reports
MIT Reports will be submitted by doctors, pharmacists and other HCPs using the MedShr platform. There is limited data on current clinical practice in many LMICs around the use of antimicrobials, and levels of adherence to good clinical practice outlined in AMS protocols.
Clients for these data include public health bodies, health ministries, academic institutions, NGOs and research organisations on a not-for-profit basis. We will provide data and insights on the real-world treatment of infections and anti-microbial prescribing to support healthcare planning, research and public health policy.
What is your solution’s stage of development?
Scale: A sustainable project or enterprise working in several contexts, communities or countries that is looking to scale significantly, focusing on increased efficiencyPlease select all the technologies currently used in your solution:
What “public good” does your solution provide?
From the outset the “Why” for MedShr has been to improve healthcare and save lives, and the “How” through peer-to-peer learning and shared knowledge. MedShr case discussion enables doctors and HCPs to improve their practice and achieve better outcomes for their patients. The platform is free to use and available globally as an app or on web.
This approach to lifelong learning through collaboration has been extended through new features and the MedShr Learning platform. The system is now also used as part of formal medical education, for example we are currently supporting 40 free programs for a range of doctors, dentists and HCPs in collaboration with Health Education England.
The public good of the MIT Program is clear:
1. Better clinical practice through MIT Education will lead to better outcomes for patients.
2. Better data on infection management from MIT Reports, will help to improve AMS and reduce AMR.
These principles for MIT Education and Reports and our commitment to public good and global health impact can be seen through providing these services free or on a not-for-profit basis, with the ambition of these remaining fee-free for partners in LMICs.
How will your solution create tangible impact, and for whom?
The plan to focus MIT Education and Reports on LMICs is designed to deliver the greatest impact in countries where there are limited healthcare resources, and low levels of doctors. per head of the population. These are also countries where AMR has also had the greatest mortality in recent years. This means that as well as doctors, it is also important to engage nurses, pharmacists and other HCPs who are involved in treating infections and providing anti-microbial therapy in AMR Education and AMS Certification.
We aim to support these professionals and empower them to improve their clinical care, operating in line with best practice, and reducing the risk of AMR.
The tangible impact of the MIT program will be at several levels:
1. HCPs with better knowledge and skills, providing better care
2. Patients treated with safe, effective therapy
3. The public benefitting from improved healthcare services and reduced rates of AMR.
How will you scale your impact over the next year and the next 3 years?
MIT Education and MIT Reports will be launched in Nigeria, and we are in discussion with the Nigerian Medical Association and other in country partners about trying to make AMS Certification mandatory with annual updates.
In addition MIT Education will be available free to access for MedShr members from any country. We have experience in using multichannel promotion to doctors and HCPs in targeted specialties and geographies to increase engagement and learners to specific programs. Additional support from funding partners will allow us to use this approach to increase participation in the MIT Education Program and augment completion of AMS Certification.
Ghana and Rwanda are the two next partner countries, and are in discussion with other countries in Africa and south Asia at regional and national level.
The roll out of MIT Reports will follow the MIT Education Program starting with Nigeria.
The attached PDF shows the scale of reach and engagement of previous MedShr Global Health Programs including AMR Education. It is anticipate that >100,000 HCPs will be reached each year with the education. The rates of completion of AMS Certification are more difficult to project, and will depend on whether the Certification is mandated or optional.
How are you measuring success against your impact goals?
We routinely monitor a wide range of member, activity and engagement metrics in relation to the MedShr platform and case discussion, and some of the headline metrics we use are outlined in case studies in the attached PDF.
The MedShr Infection Treatment Program technology will be designed and developed and the initial goals will relate to product development, quality testing and release of the first iteration.
Whilst it is not possible to directly measure the effects of MedShr on patient care or mortality, there are a number of measures that can indicate the reach and impact of the platform and MIT Program:
1. Reach and engagement of MedShr AMR Education with HCPs
2. Number of learners and AMS certifications undertaken
3. Learner surveys and feedback of AMR education on impact on their clinical practice
4. Reach and engagement of MIT Reports promotion with HCPs
5. Number of MIT Reports submitted by HCPs
6. Expert and partner reviews of the MIT program
In which countries do you currently operate?
In which countries do you plan to deploy your solution within the next 3 years?
What barriers currently exist for you to accomplish your goals in the next year and the next 3 years? How do you plan to overcome these barriers?
There is a clear program of work for the MIT Program, and it is not anticipated that there will be any significant technology barriers in developing MIT Education or MIT Reports.
MIT Program: Potential Barriers
1. Educational Content development: need to ensure high quality educational content is developed for AMR Education and AMS Certification. Working in partnership with WHO / British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy should minimise this.
2. Reach to target audience: if channel partnerships with Ministries of Health or national medical societies are not possible we will use multichannel promotion to engage HCPs.
3. Mandatory AMS Certification: the aim is to gain approval to provide AMS Certification as Core Skills or Mandatory Training. However, if this is not achieved the program will be marketed to HCPs for the impact on population health.
4. MIT Reports Integration: layering the new technology for MIT reports into the MedShr app or using a MedShr communication channel. This will require expert UX/UI product development with ongoing user experience iteration.
If you have additional video content that explains your solution, provide a YouTube or Vimeo link or upload a video here.
What type of organization is your solution team?
For-profit, including B-Corp or similar modelsWhy are you applying to The Trinity Challenge?
MedShr is a fast growing, early stage technology company with a relatively small team. Whilst we have demonstrated our ability to effectively build a global community and establish partnerships with global organisations and corporations, we do not have the resources to develop the MedShr Infection Treatment Program in this Trinity Challenge entry without additional financial support.
We are also interested in working with TTC Partners with expertise in AMR and those with healthcare AI to accelerate the ability to extract insights, trends and value from the complex data acquired and aggregated by MedShr.
The MedShr team were already in discussion with medical societies and Ministries about potential partnerships. We would like to work more closely with the WHO on our education programs, and this challenge may provide the opportunity to do so.
What organization(s) would you like to collaborate with to initiate, accelerate, or scale your solution?
National and Specialist Medical Societies
Ministries of Health
USAID
WHO
UN
Pharma companies supporting Global Health
Solution Team
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Dr Asif Qasim MA PhD FRCP Founder and CEO , MedShr
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Solution Name:
MedShr Infection Treatment Program