You have seen the publicity, now read the behind-the-scenes detail of what is expected from participating organisations.
In a letter sent from the 3ML Working Group we can see that leading and governing the initiative will be “an Industry Leadership Group…comprised of [sic] 11 candidates on the following basis: 1 x DH representative, 4 x industry association representatives and 6 x industry organisation representatives.”
The invitation to the party (PDF) comes with a £10,000 price tag, which is what the four industry associations have already put into the pot and what is being asked from participating companies. The industry associations (more info) are:
- The Telecare Services Association (TSA)
- The Association of British Healthcare Industries (ABHI)
- Intellect (representing the IT industry)
- Medilink UK (a national health technology business support organisation)
As far as is known, the Department of Health’s contribution has been advice (invaluable, no doubt), the use of meeting rooms, tea and coffee, but even those are switching to Intellect’s offices for the inaugural ’round table’ event on 29 February to which companies will be invited if they are willing to pay the £10,000 and to sign up to the proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)(PDF).
There is also guidance to participating companies on the minimum standards (PDF) expected of them.
Public-facing outputs so far have been the 3ML website, leaflet and case studies, the concordat, and the logo, which participating companies will be able to use.
Comment
Companies need to understand the commitments set out in the MOU and consider the implications of being held on a very tight rein concerning confidentiality and communications for five years.
Condition 7.4 of the MOU commits to public access to the names of the contributing companies but we should know that anyway. It is a pity it does not include a commitment to show how much they contribute.
In the standards document it is interesting to note that there is no mention of the Continua Alliance standards in the interoperability section, which has the usual ‘where appropriate’ weasel words.
There are also some general questions that should be raised by companies at the forthcoming meeting, such as:
- After the £10,000 initial contribution, what happens if a company does not agree to pay the later funding demands of the Leadership Group? Is that grounds for dissolution of the MOU under condition 16.1.2… ‘one or more Party is in breach of their obligations under this MOU’?
- If the Telecare/Telehealth/Telecoaching Framework Agreement is not renewed this year, can participating companies expect an easier ride in tenders from council and NHS commissioners? (If not, why not? 😉 )
- The communications around the 3ML initiative have been high on aspirations but what else is ‘in it for us’ apart from the use of the 3ML logo?
Editor Steve confesses to mixed views on this initiative, having been an advocate for many years that telehealth and telecare companies should increase co-operation to fight the real competition, which is the old, face-to-face-intensive way of monitoring people’s safety and health.
However, is creating a ‘superclub’ of companies that are willing to commit £10,000, plus unknown future amounts, to support a no-cost, no-lose initiative for the Government the best way to go about it? Readers’ views are welcome, especially from those who can convince us that it is indeed worthwhile.
Update 17 February: Follow-up item 3millionlives. A cartel in the making? (UK)
By making this a “club” for big companies I can’t see how innovative ideas from small companies can contribute. I have to agree Steve comments.
I have tried to register on the 3million website for more details but after two attempts I have had no feedback.
We launched our new telecare product last year and its very successful outside of the UK. It seems that the UK is a bit of a “closed shop” to new ideas in this market.
Nice to see you posting here Mark and I support the point you raise. Recent experience has included a tendering exercise which was stated to be focused on attracting innovative smaller companies … yet it only attracted larger companies. Some of these initiatives are time and bureaucratic drains for smaller enterprises.
It is just as frustrating to those of us trying to increase the awareness of and access to innovative technologies when that same ‘closed shop’ mindset gets priority.
However, just as we suddenly notice spring flowers appear out of the frozen ground, we have to keep hopeful – today in my training session was a delegate who is a driver for one of our service units. He came to the training because he was told to – he has gone away with treasure which will far outweigh the value of the CPD certificate he gained – when I talked about anxious families and considering products like SeN-Cit, whilst others struggled with “why not just a community alarm?” he immediately understood its value to his family situation but he also came to understand why an older family member has been so defensive about his family’s attempts to protect him. He has gone home with a range of ideas to try and right the situation.
Taking up Mark and Cathy’s points, selling individual products is difficult in any country – which is why effective marketing is needed. This can be expensive so the Internet is a great boon for smaller countries. However, if telecare (and telehealth) are to become part of a full and standard delivery system then we have to move away from a product focus and to a whole system approach, getting the technological solutions into the care pathways and standard approaches used by care managers. They are dealing with vulnerable people – so end-to-end solutions are needed that don’t create an alert that nobody responds to or which isn’t recorded on a system so that trends can be seen and preventive actions taken before escalation occurs. So to be successful, small companies have to come up with propositions that fit the system – and that probably means developing consortia. I’m afraid that I don’t know who can help with that – but I suspect that small players are going to have to team up with larger ones for maximum impact, and it’s clearly not going to be through the 3ML campaign! My hope is that some system integrators will emerge who can harness the vendors of innovative technologies along with organisations that specialise in equipment installation, maintenance, monitoring, emergency response etc. Maybe BT fancy that role because the big UK box-shifters are hardly up to the task – especially as they scale back their research developments.
Being new to the telecare industry with new products, we have been welcomed with open arms by most but have found the higher up the chain you go the more the attitude that it is a closed community.
£10,000 could not be justified for a new company like us who are trying to work out how best to spend our marketing fund and get our products in front of the right people.
Is there not a group who get together and discuss what is needed, what is missing and the best direction to move forward for the better of the industry open to all?
If you are serious, then you need to bite the bullet and pay. If you work in most technologies there’s a similar fee to get access to standards. It’s the way the world works. If you’re planning to make products, you’ll have certification fees way in excess of this.
If the group is a cartel then that’s bad, but in most industries, SMEs accept that this cost is a fact of business. Governments don’t deal with individual companies – they deal with trade organisations and it costs this much to run them. And I’ve come across hundreds of SMEs that accept this. So if someone feels aggrieved, they should probably ask whether they had a realistic business plan when they started up? £10,000 is a relatively low bar. I’ve come across plenty of similar groups that ask ten or fifty times that. Once you join a group like this, then, if you contribute you’ll discover there’s a far higher cost in your time.
I’m sorry if this sounds negative, but there is a cost of doing business and start-ups need to be aware of what it is. It doesn’t help anybody going into business with their eyes closed.
[quote name=”stephen westley”]Being new to the telecare industry with new products, we have been welcomed with open arms by most but have found the higher up the chain you go the more the attitude that it is a closed community.
£10,000 could not be justified for a new company like us who are trying to work out how best to spend our marketing fund and get our products in front of the right people.
Is there not a group who get together and discuss what is needed, what is missing and the best direction to move forward for the better of the industry open to all?[/quote]
Yes, yes, yes!! There is such an organisation. It’s called London Telecare, and what you are looking for is the SUPPLIERS’ FORUM which has just met at Westminster City Hall. There’s a report of that meeting going up on the LT website – 16 manufacturers attended, and a whole range of topics were discussed. An interactive Forum is planned, and further meetings are planned. Do join!! [url]http://www.londontelecare.com/[/url]
Converting 3m new customers into Telecare and Telehealth is a massive task. Having worked in advertising and marketing communications for much of my life, I really doubt whether a few companies pitching £10k each into a pot will do more than scratch the surface.
This needs a multi-million pound budget from the government to make an effective impact on the market. And the rewards from cost savings should more than justify this investment. Isn’t that the point of the WSD programme? The government must take the lead – and the risk.
London Telecare have had over £2m worth of media space donated by the poster industry over the past few years. Whilst we may have raised awareness in our own telecare community, it’s hard to see clear evidence of widespread public understanding of what telecare is all about. See YouTube ‘What is Telecare?’ for vox pop reactions!
Oh yes, £10k may be peanuts to the big boys, but it’s a sizeable sum to many smaller companies who are often at the cutting edge of telecare and telehealth innovation. This campaign needs real legs to run, and we’re talking about the kind of money that’s spent on anti-smoking and drink driving campaigns. Just look at what the COI spends each year – telecare and telehealth need to be prioritised.
We have heard only good things about London Telecare and we will be joining, l look forward to seeing you in the near future to show you what products we have planned for 2012.
[quote name=”Nick Hunn”]£10,000 is a relatively low bar. I’ve come across plenty of similar groups that ask ten or fifty times that.[/quote]
I think that’s what they are worried about. As John Chambers points out, the money required for a ‘decent’ advertising campaign is many times what is hoped will be raised from the initial £10k contributions. Such an open-ended commitment could wreck the finances of any of the smaller companies.
Anyway, the concerns are not just about the money. See the later post…[url]http://www.telecareaware.com/index.php/3millionlives-a-cartel-in-the-making-uk[/url]