iPLATO Patient Care Messaging is a web based text messaging system hosted within NHSnet, that integrates to all major GP administration systems, allowing fully automated appointment reminders and targeted group messaging for health promotion.Begun as a means of reducing DNA rates within the NHS, Patient Care Messaging has since evolved into a highly effective form of wider patient communication, supporting a range of GP/PCT initiatives including Smoking Cessation, Childhood Immunisation, Screening, Obesity and Flu-Jab.

Patient Care Messaging offers GP surgeries and PCTs the ability to contact patients in a highly cost effective and immediate way, by sending patients SMS (text) messages to their mobile phone.Patient Care Messaging allows GP surgeries to contact large groups of patients when running targeted health campaigns or sending appointment reminders. Patients can respond by text if they wish, with replies being automatically forwarded to a pre-assigned email address.Compared to traditional forms of communication, text messaging is extremely personalised and allows GP surgeries to contact hundreds of patients within minutes.

Highlights

• Patient Care Messaging enables the creation and sending of manual text messages to individuals and/or groups of patients for targeted health promotion campaigns (excellent for QOF).
• Patient Care Messaging fully integrates to all major GP Administration systems (including EMIS PCS & LV, INPS Vision, iSOFT)*
• Automated appoint reminders can be sent to patients by text message at a pre-defined time before the surgery visit, significantly reducing the number of missed appointments.
• Reply texts from patients are automatically directed as emails to a predefined email address.
• The unique National Read Code functionality enables the Patient Medical Record to be automatically updated with the relevant Read Code, indicating a text message has been sent. In addition, a relevant ‘campaign specific’ Read Code can be attached to the outgoing message and the Patient Medical Record updated accordingly. *
• Patient Care Messaging is a secure solution and the only text messaging service to integrate to all major GP administration systems and also to be hosted within NHSnet.

*Not applicable for Patient Care Messaging for Pharmacies

The Benefits

• Significantly reduced GP missed appointments via automated appointment reminder functionality.
• Sustained reduction in missed GP appointments as the volume of mobile numbers increases.
• A major increase in effectiveness & efficiency for health promotion campaigns.
• Response rates from targeted health campaigns are up to six times more effective than traditional methods.

• Direct cost savings and reduced workload:
• Time saving for administrative staff (no need to stuff ++ envelopes for clinics).
• Major reductions in postage and stationary costs.
• High patient satisfaction.
• Patients responding very positively to text led health promotion campaigns.

Who You Can Expect to Reach

• 80% - 90% of the adult population use mobile phones.
• Surgeries may start off with 20% - 30% of patient numbers, however, this penetration grows rapidly once surgeries start to use Patient Care Messaging and offer this service.
• Patient Care Messaging has been successfully used to engage with hard to reach patients, including the young and socially excluded.
• A multi-lingual functionality allows patients from minority groups to be contacted in languages other than English.

Messaging Applications

• DNA Reduction
• Smoking Cessation
• Childhood Immunisation
• Flu Jab
• Pandemic
• Periodic Review reminders
• Screening (Breast Screening etc.)
• Healthcare data updates (height & weight for BMI calculation )
• Individual ‘customised’ messaging (e.g. appointment cancellations due to Doctors absence etc.)

Interested? For evidence based reports/case studies on the wide range of health initiatives currently being supported by iPLATO Patient Care Messaging please email or call us on the details below:

One Lyric Square

London

W6 0NB

Tel. 020 3178 4680

[2] [Contact Us]