September 20, 2018
The NHS was founded on the principals that healthcare should meet the needs of everyone, should be free at the point of delivery, and be based on clinical need not ability to pay. But, when it comes to follow-up appointments (when a patient has had their initial consultation and is…
August 24, 2018
We’re all only human. And human behaviour is often a complex thing to predict. At DrDoctor we’re committed to understanding patient behaviour and using that understanding to influence how we design our services. We believe that to run a good hospital we must strive to make it work for everybody…
August 6, 2018
I’m Hector, the Data Protection Officer at DrDoctor. In this article, I spell out the steps that we took in preparation for GDPR kicking in on May 25th, and the steps we have taken since then that go above and beyond the legal requirements. At DrDoctor we try to make…
May 31, 2018
DrDoctor has grown immensely in 2018, with exciting news such as the ITP announcement, where the NHS has granted us funding centrally to deploy across numerous Trusts, to our ever growing headcount, to our new partnerships with Intouch with Health as well as Patients Know Best. As part of these…
May 22, 2018
The proverb ‘time is the greatest healer’, rings true in many situations, but falls wide of the mark when taken literally. Healthcare and delays do not make good bedfellows. From the most complicated procedures in emergency medicine, to the cleaning schedule of a hospital’s bathrooms – it is imperative that…
May 11, 2018
Google’s announcement of Google Duplex – an AI assistant that will make calls on your behalf (seemingly focusing on appointment booking) – seems to have polarised people on many fronts. For some it has raised ethical questions, others foresee it as hailing a new age of phone communications, and many…
May 2, 2018
Last month I had the privilege to represent the DrDoctor team, being recorded by CNBC. The segment covered the NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA), the Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs), and DrDoctor – focusing on Technology, innovation and the changing face of health care. The segment was aired last night, and…
April 12, 2018
DrDoctor co-founder, Tom Whicher, was recently on a panel at the Digital Health Tech 2018 exhibition in London discussing: ‘What is the best way to get patients to adopt a new technology for accessing their healthcare?’ One thing stuck with me after listening to the talk. User ‘behaviour change’ that…
April 9, 2018
We’re delighted that NHS England has granted DrDoctor central funding as part of the Innovation and Technology Payment. The funding will be used to add more evidence of the impact that DrDoctor can have on patients and hospital finances, and to promote adoption within other NHS Trusts. This is a…
March 29, 2018
Last year the DrDoctor Team came together with one of our clients, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT) to write a paper for the Future Healthcare Journal (FHJ) about the power of digital communications and how we helped GSTT to reduce their ‘do not attend’ (DNA) rates by 17.2%*. At DrDoctor we place high…
March 9, 2018
The Epidemic The definition of an epidemic is a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time. It’s not too great a leap to suggest that the NHS is experiencing an epidemic of its own; a financial one. Every few weeks, we see newspapers dominated…
March 8, 2018
We sat down with Hamish Laing, Medical Director, and Chief Information Officer, ABM University Health Board, to discuss all things digital and the NHS. We wanted to understand where Hamish has come from through his journey in the NHS, what inspires him and what he hopes to see in the…
February 26, 2018
GDPR at DrDoctor Everyone is talking about GDPR, it may not be the most exciting topic, but it will be making a big impact on users. How will we go about not screwing it up? Have a read below to see what we’ve done to prep for May 25th 2018.…
February 15, 2018
Back when I studied economics at school, I was introduced to the concept of Ceteris Paribus – all other things being equal – and the term stuck with me, not least because phrases in Latin make you sound smart. It is used when examining, building and testing economic theories and models to…
February 12, 2018
DrDoctor was a godsend for me, it helped me to take control over my care at a really difficult time in my life. I work for myself and working while in treatment meant I not only had to keep track of my own appointments, but my work life too. I…
February 1, 2018
Healthcare, like all other industries, thrives on innovation. Paradoxically, the complexity of the NHS means that innovation often falls by the wayside to more pressing and immediate challenges. In an organisation as financially handicapped as the NHS, which concurrently spends over £20 billion on goods and services annually, the margin…
January 17, 2018
Our founder Tom spoke to tech podcast “Venturi’s Voice” about how DrDoctor is bringing about a cultural change in the NHS and how this paves the way for a technological shift in the organisation. They also discuss the current state of healthtech and Tom’s journey founding DrDoctor. Below is a short extract from the…
January 11, 2018
The NHS has come a long way from where it began, and as our world evolves and becomes ‘smarter’, our healthcare system needs to keep up to ensure patients and NHS workers are given the support they need. Over the past few years, headlines have stated how the NHS…
December 18, 2017
The NHS provides a public service that is funded through taxpayer’s money. It seems only natural, therefore that such a service is kept accountable and transparent to the public. Yet far too often the public is regarded as part of the problem instead of part of the solution. This situation…
December 5, 2017
A good story could be one of the biggest attributes to a product’s success. The narrative of any tale plays a huge function in how the story will be received by the public or its target audience. In short, the majority of my work has come from defining the narrative…