Text Messaging in the NHS hits the mainstream

iPLATO marked the second launch anniversary of Patient Care Messaging, the leading platform for text messaging in British Primary Care, with a series of knowledge sharing events in Lewisham and City & Hackney PCTs. Over fifty surgeries attended the two events and listened to advanced Patient Care Messaging users describe best practice in using of the platform to improve patient care and achieve key targets.

"The high attendance and keen interest from practices at the event clearly indicate the rapidly growing appeal of Patient Care Messaging as a key channel of patient communication by surgeries. I was pleased to share my experiences from the last couple of months with my peers" said Mark Cronin, Information and Technology Manager from the Chrisp Street Practice in Tower Hamlets who shared his early experiences as a Patient Care Messaging user at one the Mobile Cafés.

As a result of the successful events, iPLATO added another ten surgeries in Lewisham Primary Care Trust to the rapidly growing list of Patient Care Messaging users. "Reaching a total of seventeen practices using Patient Care Messaging throughout Lewisham PCT only a couple of months after launching our first surgery in the borough confirms the scalability of our service", said Tobias Alpsten, iPLATO's managing director. “It shows that the service not only works and that patients like it but also that we are able to effectively partner with Primary Care Trusts to expand to a large number of practices despite challenging financial circumstances and organisational change.”

Alpsten continued, "The real challenge faced by many surgeries is the number of patients for whom they have mobile numbers recorded in their GP systems. At text service launch, the typical surgery will only have mobile phone numbers for 15-20% of their patients. Due to the huge popularity of text reminders among patients, this percentage often rises to well above 50% within a year of operation. We know that 92% of adult patients own a mobile phone so, within 18 months, we expect most of our surgeries to be able to reach at least 65% of their patients through this channel. As a result, text messaging has emerged as an absolutely essential component of any well managed surgery’s patient communication strategy. In addition to rapidly reaching a majority of the patients, text messaging is by far is the cheapest and fastest means of patient communication which, of course, also is a big plus for our users."

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About iPLATO

iPLATO is a privately owned limited company founded in London in the autumn of 1999. Over the last four years the company has invested substantial resources towards overcoming the barriers to entry of the United Kingdom healthcare market and building a mobile healthcare business. In 2003, iPLATO was awarded a SMART Feasibility Grant by the Department of Trade & Industry to study the feasibility of a national implementation of a system to remind outpatients about scheduled appointments using text messaging technology. Since completing the study, the company has built a promising business around its flagship service - Patient Care Messaging. The European Venture Contest, organised by the European Commission, recently recognised iPLATO as one of the top ten early stage technology ventures ready to "reshape their industry and to conquer the global market". The company featured on the Red Herring Europe Top 200 of companies to watch in 2006.

Press contact:

For iPLATO: San-Jay Moodley, sanjay.moodley@iplato.net, 079 4758-2936
Suite 210 – Canalot Studios, 222 Kensal Road, London W10 5BN, United Kingdom
www.iplato.net