DigitalHealth.London Spotlight: Blinx

Every week, we shine a spotlight on one of our DigitalHealth.London companies, founders, or NHS fellows. Today, we are excited to feature our current DigitalHealth.London Accelerator company Blinx.

What is the problem you are trying to solve and why is it important?

Primary care in England faces significant challenges, including workforce pressures, rising demand, and complex patient needs, compounded by difficulties in accessing appropriate services. Existing digital solutions lack integration, leading to fragmented data and widening health disparities. Much of primary care remains reactive rather than preventive, highlighting the need for greater patient engagement and empowerment.

To address these issues, improving the integration of digital solutions is crucial. This involves streamlining data exchange and continuity of care to reduce the strain on healthcare resources and improve population health outcomes. Empowering patients to take an active role in their healthcare, promoting shared decision-making, and fostering collaboration between patients and providers are essential steps in this transformation.

What is the solution you have developed and how can it help with the problem?

Blinx has developed the Patient and Care Optimiser (PACO), a comprehensive Software as a Service (SAAS) product designed to address the multifaceted challenges faced by all tiers of primary care in England. PACO is scalable, interoperable, and can seamlessly integrate across GP Practices, Primary Care Networks (PCNs), and Federations in delivering efficient and effective healthcare services.

PACO offers a suite of modules, including an Online Consultations module which facilitates remote patient consultations and reduces the need for in-person visits, alleviating the strain on clinical resources. PACO also has a Care Navigation and Connect module, which empowers healthcare professionals to guide patients through appropriate care pathways and distribute demand across all available resources, optimising healthcare delivery at scale.

Other modules include Appointment Booking, Patient Communications, Digital Healthcare Data Capture, and Population Health Analytics. Through these features, PACO can streamline administrative tasks, improve communication between patients and healthcare providers, and enable data-driven decision-making to enhance patient outcomes.

What is the history of your company?

Blinx began in 2014 with a focus on developing business applications that enhance visibility and efficiency across various sectors. However, in 2018, recognising the pressing need for innovative solutions in healthcare, our management made a strategic decision to pivot towards health technology. Our approach involved collaborating closely with key primary care partners to co-develop a solution that truly meets the needs of healthcare professionals and patients alike.

In October 2022, we proudly launched our flagship product, PACO GP, which represents the culmination of years of research, development, and collaboration. Since then, PACO GP has continued to evolve, with new functionalities being added to enhance its capabilities and address emerging challenges in primary care. The response from the healthcare community has been overwhelmingly positive, leading to rapid growth in our customer base across England.

We remain committed to our mission of revolutionising healthcare delivery through technology and continue to innovate and expand our product offerings to meet the evolving needs of the healthcare industry.

What successes have you had so far from successful pilots/trials/contracts?

Reduction in Manual Efforts

PACO’s Health Form automation has significantly reduced manual efforts for healthcare professionals, streamlining administrative tasks and allowing them to focus more on patient care.  One health form automation campaign alone has saved over 100 days of administration time in one practice.

Enhanced Digital Front Door

By implementing PACO’s digital front door solutions, we have observed a notable decrease in phone calls to practices, as patients now have convenient self-booking links for routine Call:Recall campaigns and simple admin queries. This has led to over 1,500 reduced phone calls across one month in a single PCN.

Improved Patient Engagement

The Communication Hub’s feature of patient-preferred language translations has led to increased patient engagement. Previously non-responsive patients are now actively participating in health initiatives, leading to better health outcomes.

Decrease in DNA Appointments

Practices utilising PACO have experienced a remarkable reduction in the number of Did Not Attend (DNA) appointments by over 15%. This decrease is attributed to patients using the self-booking feature, which allows them to reschedule or cancel appointments directly from the provided links, eliminating the need to contact the practice.

Increased Appointment Utilisation

As a result of the self-booking feature and improved patient engagement, appointment utilisation rates have seen a significant boost of over 5% on average across practices. This indicates more efficient use of available appointments and resources.

What are your future goals? What does success look like?

We are advancing towards a patient-centric approach within PACO, aiming to provide a comprehensive and integrated solution that enables primary care to operate seamlessly at scale. We aim to expand our footprint across England, working collaboratively with PCNs and broader NHS organisations to reach more communities and healthcare providers.

Success for us also means fostering enhanced patient engagement and empowerment. We want to empower patients to take an active role in managing their health by providing them with tools and resources to make informed decisions.

How has your time on the DigitalHealth.London Accelerator helped you in achieving these?

Our time on the DigitalHealth.London Accelerator has been transformative, enabling us to strengthen our network, enhance our understanding of compliance and governance requirements, NHS regulatory frameworks, and develop solutions that are scalable, compliant, and tailored to the needs of the NHS.

We have also been able to build our network within the healthcare ecosystem by connecting with industry experts, healthcare professionals and fellow innovators. The guidance from these relationships – as well as the programme’s NHS Navigators’ invaluable knowledge, experience and advice – has helped us implement the right policies and designs into our product development process from the outset.

Being on the programme has placed us in a better position to achieve our goals of improving patient outcomes and driving innovation in healthcare delivery.

Do you have any advice for aspiring digital health companies?

Make sure you engage NHS partners early and build strong partnerships with your early adopters that can help you shape and learn what your products need. Prioritise security and privacy early and do not underestimate the interoperability complexity and timelines in your development estimates. 

Build a culture of iteration within your team and your customers to ensure that your solution truly meets the needs of your customers.

Any asks for the audience?

Take the time to explore our solutions and see how they can benefit you and your organisation. Whether you’re a healthcare provider, patient, or industry partner, there may be opportunities for you to leverage our products and services to improve healthcare delivery and outcomes.

As we continue to grow and learn, we welcome healthcare professionals to engage with us, provide feedback on our solutions, and share your experiences. We are also always looking for opportunities to collaborate with healthcare organisations, industry partners, and innovators. If you see potential synergies or opportunities for collaboration, please reach out to us.

Blinx is 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.