iPLATO Healthcare, the leader in mobile health announced the launch of mSite - a new module of iPLATO Patient Care Messaging. mSite, provided free of charge to licensed GP surgeries, will enable each surgery to create their own mobile internet site to inform patients about opening hours, contacts details, access maps and out of hours services.
NHS Hammersmith and Fulham, an early adopter of mobile services, will use mSite to promote health and increase awareness of local services. Another goal is to improve access to primary care services and help patients' access out-of-hours services to avoid unnecessary A&E admissions. Surgeries can promote mSite by adding a link to the surgery site in each appointment reminder message. If the patient follows the link, they will get access to the surgery site with links to useful local information about services and promotion of 'No Smoking Day' on March 10th 2010.
Miles Freeman, Director of Commissioning at NHS Hammersmith and Fulham said "As a pioneering PCT, we're excited about being the first to offer our patients this new option to access local health information via their mobile. We already utilise a range of channels to communicate with our patients and with mobile phone numbers recorded at our GP surgeries at over 50%, adding a mobile option seems an obvious choice. We are looking at this initiative as a long term channel development opportunity - not a quick fix. We are aware that not all of our population today use the type of phones required to access this service, but as smartphone usage increases, so will the demand to use them to access health information."
"According to the Mobile Data Association, an average of 17 million people per month in the UK used the mobile internet in 2008," says Tobias Alpsten Managing Director at iPLATO Healthcare. "Since then, the iPhone has popularised the concept of using the mobile to access applications and information. The surge in Smartphones coming to market over the next year will present our PCTs and GPs with the opportunity to engage with large numbers of their patients using this channel."
iPLATO mSite is designed to work on all mobile internet enabled phones in the UK. Even though mobile internet enabled, this service may not work for some users because of their data settings. Please contact your mobile operator if you experience access problems. This is not a premium rate service. Unless included in your mobile package, this service may incur mobile data charges from your network operator. NHS Hammersmith and Fulham are not able to reimburse patient cost for accessing mSite.
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- iPLATO's Profile
About NHS Hammersmith and Fulham
NHS Hammersmith and Fulham is the NHS organisation responsible for providing and commissioning healthcare for people living and working in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Our aim is to improve the health of local residents by providing access to high quality health services and encouraging people to make healthy lifestyle choices (for example stopping smoking, eating a healthy diet and taking regular exercise).
About iPLATO
iPLATO Healthcare is a London based innovation company dedicated to mobile health since 2006.
iPLATO's evidence based mobile health solutions have proven to improve patient access to healthcare, to enable powerful health promotion targeted at people at risk and to support people with long term conditions.
Serving millions of patients and thousands of healthcare professionals every day iPLATO has emerged as the leader in mobile health. Across this network the company is running campaigns to promote smoking cessation, weight loss, childhood immunisation and pandemic awareness as well as mobile disease management services for people with diabetes, hypertension, epilepsy and HIV.
iPLATO Healthcare's mission is to, in partnership with healthcare professionals and provider organisations, support patients in achieving longer, healthier lives.