DigitalHealth.London Innovation Spotlight: Primary Care

On Wednesday 6 March 2024, DigitalHealth.London hosted its inaugural online Innovation Spotlight series, the first of which focused on Primary Care. The webinar showcased four innovations from Cohort 7 of the DigitalHealth.London Accelerator, all dedicated to enhancing Primary Care services.

Aimed at a range of professionals working in Primary Care – including GPs, Practice Managers, Administrators and Commissioners – the webinar highlighted case studies from four of the companies currently on Cohort 7 of the DigitalHealth.London Accelerator programme:

• Aide Health
• Blinx
• Abtrace
• Hippo Labs

The session was structured to encourage peer learning, diverging from the conventional sales pitch approach. Four individuals actively engaged in Primary Care settings presented the case studies alongside companies, sharing their firsthand experiences with their innovations.

Managing Long-Term Conditions with Aide
Dr Steven Laitner
GP at Parkbury House Surgery St Albans

• Dr. Steven Laitner delivered a presentation on behalf of a colleague who has integrated a product from Aide Health into patient management strategies for long-term conditions. This digital health service facilitates short daily interactions with patients, supporting them with medication adherence and capturing health data for sharing with their GP. Dr. Laitner presented a case study focusing on the utilization of Aide Health with asthma patients, demonstrating its efficacy in monitoring metrics such as blood pressure or peak flow, enhancing mental well-being, and providing education on managing their conditions and lifestyle adjustments.

Automation with Blinx’s PACO
Dr Ian Pawson
GP Partner and Central Liverpool PCN Clinical Director at Brownlow Health

• Dr. Ian Pawson spoke on how he has utilised Blinx’s automation tools and their PACO system across four distinct use cases: mole clinic bookings, asthma health forms, contraception recall, and patient registration. He highlighted findings indicating a notable decrease in DNA (Did Not Attend) rates and substantial time savings for staff when compared to traditional appointment booking and form collection methods. Additionally, Dr. Pawson discussed some of the upcoming projects within his practice that were going to be managed through the PACO system, including medication reviews and quick messaging functionalities.

Automating away QOF Pains with Hippo Labs’ Hippo Recaller
Louis Williams
Clinical Targets Lead at Penrose Health

• Louis Williams, who oversees target attainment enhancements across Penrose Health’s eight sites, shared insights into the integration of Hippo Recaller software from Hippo Labs. This software automates recall lists, enabling patients to seamlessly schedule appointments in relevant clinics while providing analytical insights to track campaign progress. Williams illustrated a case study demonstrating how they efficiently improved diabetes recall performance by redistributing workload without adding time costs for the practice team.

Fully Automating Monitoring and Recall with Abtrace
Dr Soumia Kolli
Head of PCN Pharmacy Workforce at the Islington GP Federation

• Dr. Soumia Kolli shared how using Abtrace’s patient population background assessment tool in her practice has streamlined appointments by flagging necessary actions (such as blood tests or measurements) for action during consultations. Additionally, she showcased the system’s call/recall and appointment booking features. Abtrace effectively measured these interactions, illustrating significant improvements over time in addressing overdue patients compared to those who completed all necessary tasks during their visit.

After the presentations, the event’s Chair, Dr Caroline Chill (GP and Clinical Director of Community and Care Homes at the Health Innovation Network (HIN) South London) led a panel discussion with presenters and company representatives while addressing questions from the audience. The panel delved into the implementation process, staff reception toward the new technology and they achieved time and cost savings.

Feedback from the session was overwhelmingly positive, with speakers encouraging attendees to seek further information and consider adopting these innovations in their practices to enhance time management and elevate patient care and experience.

If you are interested in learning more about the DigitalHealth.London Innovation Spotlight or any of the companies featured in this article, please check out this information pack or contact Karla Richards at karlarichards@nhs.net.

Aide Health, Blinx, Abtrace and Hippo Labs are currently in Cohort 7 of the DigitalHealth.London Accelerator programme.

The DigitalHealth.London Accelerator programme is funded by the UK Government via the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). It is delivered by the Health Innovation Network (HIN) South London in partnership with the Office of Life Sciences, CW+, Medicity, NHS England, the Mayor of London and the Levelling Up Fund.

For more information, please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-
shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus.