Digital health coaching tool helps reduce GP appointments

Primary Care Networks (PCNs) adopting a digital health and wellness coaching tool have observed a decline in GP appointments post-rollout.

The tool, known as Holly Health, employs a chatbot and algorithms to personalise health recommendations for patients. It then prompts patients to follow these recommendations, tracks their completion, mood, and energy levels.

Over an eight-week span, primary care services utilising Holly Health, spanning more than 20 PCNs, recorded a reduction of 0.22 appointments among users. This reduction could potentially translate to 1.4 fewer appointments per patient annually.

Significantly, the most substantial drop in appointments occurred among high-risk patients. For instance, individuals with type 2 diabetes saw an estimated annual decrease of 6.5 appointments, while patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease experienced an average reduction of 3.25 appointments per year.

Since its launch in 2021, the service has partnered with 180 NHS primary care providers, benefiting 35,000 patients.

This includes the Scotland Ayrshire region, where around 5,000 patients annually engage with the app. Following eight weeks of app usage, these patients not only saw a decrease in appointments by about 1.95 per user per year but also experienced improved health outcomes. Notably, users with initially low to medium mood levels reported an average 18% enhancement in mental well-being, alongside a 15% increase in exercise.

Steve Woodford, non-executive director of NHS England, underscored the importance of scalable technologies for sustainable healthcare solutions, citing Holly Health as a prime example of innovation empowering individuals to proactively maintain well-being.

Grace Gimson, CEO and co-founder of Holly Health, expressed pride in the platform's positive outcomes data. She emphasised its ability to drive behaviour change and improve health outcomes both at individual and population levels.

Moving forward, Holly Health plans to conduct a randomised control trial with Northumbria primary care, focusing on patients with multimorbidity to further validate their impact on appointment reductions.

Additionally, Holly Health has developed a return on investment calculator for PCN clinical directors and system leaders to evaluate its potential impact within their networks. The tool was commissioned by local PCNs for use among patients and staff and is part of the NHS innovation accelerator program.

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