In our latest Interview Series, we quickly spoke with Tobias Alpsten, CEO from iPLATO, a provider of mobile patient facing services to support access and delivery of healthcare.
iPLATO is the company behind myGP, an NHS assured app, which is helping reduce the number of people booking a GP appointment by nearly 26% by supporting easier and faster access to healthcare. The myGP app lets you book GP appointments, order repeat prescriptions and set up medication reminders on your smartphone. HTN asked Tobias a few questions:
What is the most significant achievement for your organisation in the past 12 months and what will be over the next 12 months?
Our most significant achievement has been to continue innovating around our patient facing app myGP and looking after our users and customers while growing by 84% per year. This maintained focus on excellence in innovation and service in a dynamic (sometimes chaotic) environment is really a credit to our team.
What problems and challenges are there to overcome?
We are launching a range of new services from online consultation to medicines home delivery but the challenges remain the same: how do we bring healthcare professionals and administrators along with us on this innovation journey? Patient services will not change dramatically unless the NHS changes… and this remains the biggest challenge in British healthcare.
What do you think is the biggest technology challenge?
Making sense of AI is the biggest sector wide technology challenge at the moment. You get the impression that some suppliers and conference organisers hype AI for purely short term benefits of raising money or to fill events. This is obscuring the very important role that AI can play in the future of healthcare.
What advice would you give to other organisations or professionals?
Never give up.
What is next in your space?
Half of all healthcare consultations that are currently physical will be online within 10 years. Get ready.
What are you working on at the moment?
We are working on adding patients to myGP, connecting GP practice partners to our platform and growing our footprint internationally.
