London, 12 July – iPLATO, a Huma company, is pleased to announce the fourth renewal of its contract with Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care Board (ICB). Primary Care within the ICB will continue to benefit from iPLATO’s patient engagement platform, Connect, alongside the Population Health managed service, which has been integral to the region’s cancer screening programmes such as cervical screening.

iPLATO Connect makes communication easier for Primary Care providers and patients, supporting automated health campaigns, reduced call volumes to practices, minimised unnecessary appointments, and advanced patient questionnaires. Peterborough and Cambridgeshire ICB have already experienced sizeable time and cost savings through iPLATO’s solutions. In 2023, sending appointment reminders through the iPLATO platform led to 7,891 cancellations. With the average cost of a GP appointment being £42*, this helped save £331,422. The typical appointment lasts 9 minutes*, so these cancellations freed up about 1,184 hours, or roughly 49 days, allowing clinicians to see other patients.

The inclusive cost-conscious nature of iPLATO’s Connect platform enables better spend control and budget forecasting, crucial for ICBs and practices to manage patient messaging costs more effectively.

“Connect helps practices budget effectively without unexpected costs, thanks to our fair usage policy.”
explains Barrie Holding, NHS Partner Manager at iPLATO.

He continued,
This puts the power back in the hands of those paying the bills, making our service not only reliable but also financially prudent.”   

* The Kings Fund, https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/data-and-charts/key-facts-figures-nhs