Digital Health Coffee Time Briefing ☕ 

Your morning summary of digital health news, information and events to know about if you want to be “in the know”.   

???? News  

???? Pharmacy2U, the UK’s largest online pharmacy, is launching a new same-day medical letter service, offering patients 24/7 access to time sensitive documentation such as fit-to-fly certificates; just in time for the winter holiday season. Pharmacy2U’s new offering, which covers a wide range of use cases, including medical absence and recovery letters, as well as fit-to-fly certificates, asks patients to complete a short questionnaire and upload a 30 second video of their symptoms. The information is reviewed by a GMC-registered doctor, who will then issue an appropriate letter, certificate or referral the same day, by text and by email. 

???? TidalSense, which develops AI diagnostic and monitoring technologies for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma, has launched a project with leading lung charity Asthma + Lung UK, international research-focused biopharmaceutical and healthcare group Chiesi, Hull York Medical School and Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust involving 1,200 people suspected of having the condition, in one of the largest modern, prospective studies of a new, respiratory diagnostic technology. As part of the study, a first-of-its kind diagnostic algorithm will be built to detect changes in people with very early COPD, an incurable lung condition that affects around 1.4 million people in England, even if they haven’t yet experienced breathing problems. 

???? Hyro has announced it has launched Conversational AI for Healthcare on Salesforce AppExchange, empowering healthcare providers to alleviate workforce challenges, such as inefficiency, burnout, and attrition – through AI-powered communications. Hyro’s Adaptive Communications Platform leverages large language models (including GPT), computational linguistics, and knowledge graphs – bringing the latest advances in conversational AI to healthcare organisations. With Salesforce Health Cloud and Service Cloud, Hyro’s Conversational AI for Healthcare provides health systems with a 360-degree view of patient interactions and insights to enable unparalleled support for patients across voice and chat-centric channels, including call centers, websites and mobile apps.

???? Phesi, a global provider of patient-centric data analytics has enhanced its Trial Accelerator platform with the addition of the Patient Access Score (PAS), to enable clinical trial sponsors to identify the most effective investigators. The PAS metric derives from the Phesi Digital Patient Profile (DPP); using real-world data from more than 95 million patients and over 500,000 clinical studies from Phesi’s  Trial Accelerator platform. PAS can be applied to improve investigator and site selection, reduce protocol amendments, and save costs by eliminating activation of non-performing sites.   

???? Get A Drip, the UK’s leading provider of health, well-being, and diagnostics solutions and technologies, has announced the opening of a brand-new flagship clinic on Chelsea’s King’s Road – the first of an anticipated 120 new clinics – as the franchise modelled firm looks to scale significantly, buoyed by projected turnover of near £10 million this financial year (£9.6m), near tripling the previous year’s audited figure (£3.6m).  

❓ Did you know that? 

Revenue in the global online doctor consultations market is projected to reach US$23.75bn in 2023, according to Statista.  

???? What we’re reading 

Andy Smallwood, assistant director of procurement at NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership, discusses NHS procurement challenges and solutions that could help NHS procurement teams face a wide range of challenges. In recent years, these have been amplified by the far-reaching impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, rising levels of inflation, and ongoing workforce pressures. From identifying cost-saving opportunities to reducing the NHS’s environmental impact through our purchasing decisions, we can only enhance our procurement processes by using data effectively and implementing innovative technology solutions to support us. 

???? This week’s events 

9 November, 11.00-12.30, The Health Foundation – What will the NHS look like at 100? REAL Challenge annual lecture