Paul Tambeau
CEO, Induction Healthcare
A digital solutions provider is making a difference to hospital waiting lists by making it a whole lot easier for patients to manage appointments and access video consultations remotely.
Digitalising healthcare improves efficiencies by reducing wait times and validating lists through patient engagement portals. These facilitate remote video consultations, collect patient-reported data and empower patients to manage their interactions with healthcare providers.
Patient portal reduces waiting times
Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust saw a 50% reduction in its ‘did not attend’ rates by using an integrated, easy-to-use patient engagement portal platform called Zesty, developed and delivered by Induction Healthcare.
The company’s CEO, Paul Tambeau, says: “So often, appointment letters can be mislaid or lost, meaning patients either miss or have to reschedule their appointments. However, with our Induction Zesty portal — available to access through the NHS app — patients can see all the information they need regarding their appointments. This includes the date, time and any instructions they may need.”
Digitalising healthcare improves efficiencies
by reducing wait times and validating lists
through patient engagement portals.
“There is a function that allows patients to reschedule, confirm or cancel an appointment. This means hospitals can fill those spots that become vacant with patients who really need them, thus reducing waiting lists and times.”
For waiting list validation, patients who might have been waiting a year to 18 months for an appointment can be sent a form through the portal, asking them if they still require it. In the first few days of a recent validation programme, Induction have already seen a 45% completion rate on those forms, resulting in a 2% to 4% reduction in waitlists. About 2.5 million patients across NHS England now have access to the Induction portal.
Remote consultation option for eligible patients
The video consultation platform, Attend Anywhere, is used by health trusts nationally across Scotland, Wales and Ireland, and about 74% of England’s acute trusts. In the past six months alone, about 1 million consultations have been conducted on the video platform.
Tambeau says: “At the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, they found that, by using our video platform, they were able to reduce the waiting time for first appointments from 72 weeks to 14. It meant some patients didn’t have to travel where possible — making it more cost-efficient for everyone.”
