Loft prototypes new subject access request tool for health data

In January, we announced that we had received funding from the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK, to develop a fast and secure data pipeline for the MyEyeSite project. We can now report that we have successfully prototyped a Health Records Administration (HRA) interface. This new subject access request tool for health data will form an important part of the data pipeline we are building.

HRA is being integrated with MyEyeSite, the application for people with rare eye diseases which is the result of a collaboration between Loft, Moorfields Eye Hospital and UCL. When scans of a patient’s retinas are captured in a hospital’s medical imaging department, the HRA interface will make it possible to easily and efficiently add those images to the MyEyeSite platform for the patient’s benefit. From there, the patient can share their data with health professionals, and also consent for it to be made accessible to scientists studying rare eye conditions to advance their research.

By enabling patients with rare eye diseases to compile and share their health data, treatment can be delivered more efficiently, and researchers can be supplied with wider pools of valuable patient data which could help unlock improved ways of treating these conditions. As such, MyEyeSite aims to use technology to achieve better outcomes for patients.

“We hope MyEyeSite will be a groundbreaking for people with rare eye diseases, but the model we are developing could also serve as a platform to help people with other conditions,” says Nick Nettleton, founder and CEO at Loft. “We are pioneering a new way of managing patient health data which we think is very exciting for healthcare professionals, institutions and, most importantly, patients.”

There are many other possible uses for the HRA technology developed at Loft, both within and beyond rare disease treatment and research. We are looking for further partners to collaborate with – please get in touch if you think this subject access request tool could benefit a project you’re working on.

MyEyeSite has recently entered the open beta phase of its development. If successful, it will provide a template for future platforms that help people with other diseases, their doctors, health services and researchers, using technology to improve treatment and accelerate science around the world. Our HRA interface will play a key role as these new platforms develop.

Find out more about the project on the MyEyeSite website, or read our case study on the project here.