Barts and The London NHS Trust and iPLATO hosted a knowledge sharing event on Monday the 10th of July 2006. The event brought together representatives from 13 Trusts from across London who came to listen to and discuss the initial findings from an iPLATO Patient Care Messaging pilot running at the acute trust since April 2006.

Yasmin Anwar, Service Improvement Manager at Dental and Patient Services, said "Our Patient Text Message Appointment Reminder Pilot has been running since early April, covering two specialties with typically high DNA rates (20% and 23% respectively). Latest figures show that, of the patients who have received text message reminders, only 2.7% went on to miss their appointments, which is a dramatic improvement."

In an informal event setting, speakers from Barts and The London elaborated on pilot findings and answered questions from attendees. Allaying many of the concerns regarding information governance was Mike Eagles, Head of Software Development at Barts and The London. Eagles mentioned that confidentiality was paramount when handling patient information and this was maintained by encrypting transmitted data, regulating text message content and gaining patient consent. "After the initial installation and integration of iPlato with our own system, there was nothing more we needed to do for it to work successfully. The messaging works in the background" commented Eagles on the fully automated and non-intrusive nature of Patient Care Messaging on PAS.

Tobias Alpsten, Managing Director of iPLATO who moderated the session said "The results of the pilot at an established trust like Barts and The London serves as an endorsement to iPLATO Patient Care Messaging. It also endorses our collaborative approach in bringing these solutions to our NHS partners. In the end, this solution is not about sending text messages as much as it is about improving healthcare through increased access, reduced waiting times and improved patient service. We are thankful that Barts and The London has given us a platform to prove that the technology and our unique approach deliver the intended benefits".