Babylon GP at Hand is now the fifth-largest practice in England. Is this a threat to our traditional General Practitioners?
As reported by GPOnline in their recent article, the total number of patients registered with Babylon’s GP at hand service has risen to 59,924 and its list size increased by more than 8,000 in the past three months.
GP at Hand now has almost 12 times the number of patients it had when it first launched in November 2017 and in June this year, GP at Hand was given the green light to expand to the Birmingham and Solihull area.
So what does this mean for traditional GPs?
Patients are starting to look elsewhere if their needs are no longer being satisfied by their current GP. This is specifically applicable to patients who
These patients are especially valuable to practices, as they are unlikely to take up as much GP time as those who visit on a more regular basis.
As GP pressure will increase, patients will become frustrated with lengthy wait times and a lack of sufficient provisions. this will drive them towards services such as Babylon’s GP at hand as it promises to alleviate the same issues. Does this mean Babylon is going to wipe out all our traditional GP practices? Can traditional GP survive this technology-enabled patient care storm? What do they need to not only survive but to thrive?
There are only 3 options:
Option 1: Do nothing
Bury your head under the sand and pretend you are safe. Allow digital healthcare providers to poach your healthy and paying patients, have to struggle with the aging population, and lower your care quality as your income /profit margin will shrink. Perhaps you will be acquired by a bigger practice or simply go out of business.
Option 2: Do something but not the “right thing”
Try to implement certain digital services haphazardly and without expert knowledge. This will likely result in a waste of resources and less effective practices that will cost a large amount of money with little return.
Option3: Do the BEST thing
Work with industry experts to implement a strategic digitalisation strategy that is both efficient and cost-effective. This will make sure that your practice remains ahead of the times and does not lose business to external threats, instead attract new patients by being creative and innovative. Save yourself time and money whilst you improve patient experience, its WIN WIN WIN.
Want to know what Capri Healthcare can do for you? ALL of this and more… here is your opportunity to talk to industry experts and see how we can help you to take on this digital challenge and excel. Get in touch
