The Patient Access Mobile app, from the UK’s leading health information site Patient.co.uk, will also enable patients to:
- Order repeat prescriptions
- Securely message their practice
- Update personal details e.g. change of address
Patient.co.uk is owned and operated by EMIS – which supplies healthcare software and related services to 52% of UK* GP practices. The EMIS system is what enables the app to connect directly with practices.
The app is one of the first to feature in the NHS Commissioning Board’s new Health Apps Library - a collection of recommended online tools designed to improve the health and wellbeing of the nation. The library was launched at the Healthcare Innovation Expo 2013.
Patient Access is currently used by more than 1.8 million patients from over 2,200 GP practices. In January 2013 alone, more than a quarter of a million requests for repeat medication were made through the service, and over 148,000 GP appointments were booked.
Historically the service has enabled patients of EMIS practices to access such services online via their desktop computer or laptop. Feedback from GPs and their patients suggested an appetite to move this capability to mobile devices.
Ben Foster, Operations Director at Patient.co.uk said: “While we have experienced massive demand for Patient Access – we found that not everyone could benefit. GPs were telling us that many of their patients didn’t have access to internet or even a computer so couldn’t use the service from home.
“Together with the growing trend for mobile-based services, a phone app was a natural solution - particularly given that over a third (39%) of visits to the Patient.co.uk site are now via mobile device.”
