Remote & digital care

12 Jan 2026 Ive been a bit quiet recently on here as so many exciting projects on the go that I hope… LinkedIn Shares a document for local GPs on text-messaging costs, noting SMS fragment use varies from 3 to 89 per patient per year.

31 Jul 2025 New GP Technologies LinkedIn Asks whether RCS messaging, the richer successor to SMS, is the next patient communication channel for GP practices as ICBs look to cut SMS costs and push the NHS App.

3 Jul 2025 One of the interesting things I've heard today is the crippling cost of SMS to the NHS… LinkedIn Weighs the high cost of NHS text messaging against the NHS App and other channels, and asks whether a richer secure comms app is needed.

10 Apr 2025 It’s amazing I’m Loving it - possibly the biggest change in GP IT since SMS messaging… LinkedIn Hails a new Lexacom upgrade, free to existing customers, as possibly the biggest change in GP IT since SMS messaging arrived.

5 Sept 2024 Read an interesting book the other day that told a story about how a American university… LinkedIn Reflects on A/B split-testing message wording to boost service uptake and asks whether practices have evaluated how well they communicate with patients.

6 Nov 2022 Has general practice IT got any better in the last 20 years? LinkedIn A provocation that little in GP IT has genuinely improved since a DOS-based EPR 20 years ago — e-prescribing aside — with e-referrals, video and AI all failing to disrupt.

5 Sept 2022 I've heard a rumour that GP apps that SMS patients may be soon able to send messages to… LinkedIn Discusses a rumour that GP messaging apps may soon deliver texts through the NHS App, potentially saving SMS costs.

11 Feb 2022 an interesting new feature that I plan on trying out at my surgery - love the idea of… LinkedIn Plans to trial a feature that texts patients a link letting them self-book into a chosen clinic type, easing reception load.

1 Dec 2021 Recording of GP Appointment Data LinkedIn Welcomes moves to standardise how GP appointment data is recorded, and argues the appointment book deserves a ground-up redesign with e-triage and messaging built in rather than bolted on.

7 Apr 2021 Free Webinar: (Howbeck team involved)' LinkedIn Promotes free 'Tech for Dummies' webinars on digital health and assistive technologies for wellbeing, involving the Howbeck team.

12 Jan 2021 one of the biggest issues we are finding is people ringing us to check if we have the… LinkedIn Explores using SMS and apps to verify patients' mobile numbers for vaccine invites without clogging surgery phone lines.

22 May 2020 Video on AccuRx A pointer to a Howbeckhow2 screencast demonstrating AccuRx for SMS communication with patients, including its new one-time reply feature.

23 Feb 2020 ACCURX Video Consult LinkedIn A quick hands-on test of accuRx's new video consult module, praising its no-install link-based setup over iPlato while noting the drawbacks of running it on a personal phone.

30 Jan 2020 IT knowledge in primary care A two-way SMS success with asthma reviews shows digital solutions exist but practices don't know about them; argues PCNs and federations need dedicated IT implementer roles.

6 Jun 2019 If you are a GP practice and haven't heard of or tried AccuRx's Chain SMS - look it up -… LinkedIn Recommends AccuRx's Chain SMS to GP practices as a free and effective way to text patients.

22 Oct 2018 Things my IT could do better – 1 A rant about the EMIS results screen: no result history table, no medications or recent consultations in view, and an over-eager default SMS that fires before all results are checked.

19 Oct 2018 GE Healthcare have just published one of my thought pieces on their website thanks to Dr… LinkedIn Notes GE Healthcare has published his thought piece arguing it is time for primary care to work differently.

19 Oct 2018 GE Healthcare have just published one of my thought pieces on their website thanks to Dr… LinkedIn Notes GE Healthcare has published his thought piece arguing that primary care should work differently.

10 Apr 2018 Could ApplePay (or Android equivalent) be used as a consent tool? Do we need a Hack day? Proposes smartphone challenge-response authentication, ApplePay-style, to replace tick-box consent for shared records like the Cheshire Care Record, and floats a hack day to build it.

21 Mar 2018 Things my IT could do better - 1 A rant about the EMIS results screen: too little information, no medication or consultation context alongside results, and default SMS messages that mislead patients.

12 Mar 2018 An innovative IT start-up based in London called AccuRx is adding a much needed feature to EMIS Web Reviews accuRx's free SMS add-on for EMIS Web, which lets GPs text patients directly with templates and record-keeping — a gap EMIS itself has never filled.

17 Sept 2017 Article no 2 on Howbeck Healthcare's ideas for your GP Federation to help their practices with. LinkedIn Practical schemes a GP federation can run for its practices: Docmail outsourced mailing, iPlato SMS messaging, and Lexacom cloud dictation with speech recognition.

9 Sept 2017 Lets save a fortune for the NHS by getting rid of post! LinkedIn Proposes replacing NHS postal mail with a secure personal online mailbox for appointments and results, arguing it could save millions.

11 Feb 2016 anyone know of a simple (CHEAP) app that will run on my desktop and allow me to text a… LinkedIn Seeks a cheap desktop app to text patients, ideally pulling their mobile number from EMIS Web via the NHS SMS gateway.

9 Aug 2013 Another View: of The Future Reflections from interviewing CCG IT manager candidates on what health IT strategy misses: drug-level effectiveness analysis, telehealth data overload and consultation triage.