Following the CQC’s approval of the Now GP/Dr Now health app as ‘safe’, the app developer, Now Healthcare Group, has been selected to establish best practice for all health apps under Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt’s plans to bring apps into the NHS.
Now Healthcare Group is the first and so far only digital healthcare provider to meet all regulations set by the Care Quality Commission following a recent investigation. As the first mobile health company to be visited by the regulatory body, Now Healthcare Group has been exclusively selected for an Independent Health Pilot in order to assist the CQC in implementing best practice for health tech in the UK and laying the foundations for all future digital healthcare quality control. NHG has received a Quality Report from the CQC, which recognises the tech company’s innovation, doctors, commitment to patient safety and service provision. This will set the high standards which the rest of the digital health industry must adhere to going forwards.
Now GP and Dr Now mobile health apps both diagnose and deliver medicines, connecting patients to NHS GPs via smartphone video call. The services currently serve over one million users, with insurers such as Thomas Cook and Cigna using the platform to provide their customers with convenient, flexible healthcare. At a time when online pharmacies are under increasing scrutiny due to recent undercover investigations which revealed instances of over-diagnosis, the CQC has found that NHG is treating patients in line with best practice guidelines, maintaining appropriate medical records and constantly monitoring prescriptions and consultations. All GPs working for NHG are NHS GPs in their own right, and hold a minimum qualification of MRCGP.
Working directly with the NHS as part of the DigitalHealth.London Accelerator programme, How Healthcare Group will assist the health service through technology and continued innovation. This development follows Jeremy Hunt’s recent announcement at the Health and Care Innovation Expo in Manchester, in which he stated that the NHS is to look towards mobile health technologies and apps in a bid to reduce the pressures on the current health system. Now GP/Dr Now is currently looking to provide white-labelled health apps to CCGs, surgeries and 111/out of hours services to help the NHS meet its seven-day access targets.
Founder and CEO of Now Healthcare Group, Lee Dentith, comments: “Becoming the first mobile health service to meet CQC regulations demonstrates the positive steps Now Healthcare Group is making as a healthcare provider, and it’s an honour to be selected to set the high standards which the rest of the industry must now follow.
“This CQC Quality Report, coupled with our involvement with the DigitalHealth.London Accelerator, reaffirms my belief that our service will be fully implemented across the whole of the NHS in the coming years. We are aiming to be able to provide 100 million consultations in the next 3-5 years and also want to capitalise on technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence to help patients take better control of their healthcare and reduce pressures on the NHS.”
