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Letter to the Editor

Andrew Elman   (25 January 2008)

Letter to the Editor 25 January 2008
Andrew Elman, Director, TOA Technologies TOA Technologies, 1043 Send response to journal: Re: Letter to the Editor	Dear Sir, In Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s healthcare speech last Monday, January 7, he reaffirmed his commitment to modernise the National Health Service (NHS) by focusing on advancements in technology and improving the overall patient experience. We applaud his effort and foresight. Strong customer service, or in this case, patient service, will undoubtedly increase the satisfaction ratings of the NHS. That said, we’re delighted to hear from the speech that he believes technology can help enable superior service. Customer Appointment Management (CAM) software is one of a few innovative solutions which is already at work within many industries such as telecommunications, retail, utility and home services across Europe and the US helping to provide better quality customer-focused service. We, at TOA Technologies, believe the success of these solutions in the private sector can be rapidly deployed to lead the way with similar success for the public sector, delivering benefits for both the NHS and, more importantly, the patient. The NHS should look at the lessons learned from UK Plc where the use of technology has effectively raised the bar on the consumer experience. The administrative and financial burdens on the NHS that result when a patient does not appear for their appointment could be eradicated. For example, TOA's CAM Engine would allow the NHS to better manage its “mobile care giver” workforce by delivering a more flexible and effective appointment scheduling and customer satisfaction oriented solution. TOA's patent-pending predictive technology analyzes every aspect of the service delivery process to precisely determine service times to patients. The result is a dramatic reduction of the patient’s "wait window" to 45 minutes with a 96 percent accuracy rate. Thus patients would no longer wait for hours to see a doctor and the care provider would no longer waste precious resources due to missed appointments. These savings could be reinvested elsewhere within the NHS, which, in turn, benefits both the organisation and the public it serves. Patients would no longer wait for hours to see a doctor and the care provider would no longer sit idle wasting precious resources due to missed appointments. A true win-win situation for all involved. It’s time the NHS fixes its inefficient system. The British public deserves better. - Andrew Elman, Director, TOA Technologies Competing interests: None declared