TPP boss Hester takes pot shot at ‘artificially inflated’ hospital EPR prices

Frank Hester, CEO of TPP, has accused NHS bosses of wasting hundreds of millions on over-priced IT systems, claiming that his company offers ‘another way’.

In an open letter he takes a pot shot at ‘epic price tags’, an apparent thinly veiled reference to the US electronic patient record (EPR) supplier Epic.

He goes on to claim that “for years, costs for hospital EPRs have been artificially inflated”.

In the open letter on Twitter the TPP boss catalogues the financial pressures the NHS faces and says over-priced IT is diverting hundreds of millions from patient care.

“What if there were another way?”, the letter asks, and then goes on to extol an alternative from TPP: “An IT system that won a HIMSS 2022 best solution award but costs a fraction of the international competition. A system designed for patient care, not billing”.

The letter continues: “A system that empowers, rather than hinders our doctors, nurses and managers, and administrative teams. A system that delivers. One that can be deployed quickly and easily, with no hidden costs, no strings attached, no bloated timescales, no armies of overpaid contractors, and no epic price tag”.

The letter stresses TPP’s commitment to the NHS and lambasts competitors: “We are here for our NHS. We are here to help, not drive profits for shareholders or to grease revolving doors. Let’s do it for the frontline and choose to digitise in a different way.”

To date NHS TPP has relatively little presence in the NHS hospital EPR market, and instead remains primarily a supplier of well-regarded EPR solutions widely used in primary, community, and mental health sectors.

An example is Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, who went live with an EPR from TPP at the end of 2021.

The company hopes to change this with its new SystmOne Hospital solution. “It’s the world’s most advanced clinical technology suite,” Hester claimed in a linked sponsored HSJ article.

Following publication, TPP clarified that the award given at HIMSS’ Asia Pacific conference in Bali was for “our hospital solutions including SystmOne Hospital, Airmid and Brigid. The hospital system is our enterprise-wide EHR & hospital solution, Airmid is our patient engagement app and Brigid is our mobile clinical app.”

For years, costs for hospital EPRs have been artificially inflated.

It is time to change this.

This money can be better spent supporting doctors and nurses on the frontline. pic.twitter.com/KiG7za6hBK

— TPP (@TPP_SystmOne) December 13, 2022