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Beeping card may save NHS millions
Invention gives warning of doctors' appointments RUMMAGING through his desk, Kin Kam was mortified to find a card telling him he had missed a medical appointment. Greg Wright Deputy Business Editor
It led him to invent a device that would ensure he and millions of others would never forget to turn up for the doctor again.
It could also save the National Health Service up to 250m a year. In Yorkshire nearly a million people miss doctors' appointments every year, wasting more than 15m.
However, the Active Smart Card sends out a bleep to tell patients they are due to see a specialist or their GP.
Dr Kam braved a grilling on BBC2's Dragons' Den in February to seek investment from a stony-faced bunch of business experts.
Yesterday his York-based company Proactivecard won a 12,500 grant to develop the card, which he hopes to test later this year, possibly in Yorkshire.
The cash has come from the Grant for Research and Development (formerly the SMART awards), managed by regional development agency Yorkshire Forward.
"The grant will enable us to develop a prototype of the Active Smart Card by the end of this year,'' said Dr Kam, who is managing director of Proactivecard.
"We feel the product has a huge potential. One possible application is in reducing missed medical appointments. The Active Smart Card would be handed out to patients containing appointment details. Then as the appointment time approaches, the card will emit a sound as a reminder to the patient. Once we have the prototype ready, we plan to launch a pilot project with one of the leading health organisations.
"The receptionist in the hospital can programme it through a Smart Card reader. They then give the card to the patient who carries it with them."
The amount of notice given by the bleep will depend on the service provider – it could be days or hours before an appointment.
"It will target departments where missing appointments would be particularly expensive,'' said Dr Kam. "At least it will help people to remember. Most missed appointments – between 60 and 70 per cent – are due to people forgetting."
Dr Kam, who was born in Hong Kong and has a PhD in physics from York University, added: "I would like the pilot scheme to be done in the York area, and I am also in contact with health organisations who are interested in the North East.
"Missed appointments cost the NHS 250m a year. I wouldn't go as far as to say that that the Active Smart Card will be 100 per cent effective, but if it could reduce missed appointments by 50 per cent that would be very good and save a lot of money."
Proactivecard recently received 10,000 from the Science City York Innovation Fund towards patent costs and prototype development. The fund was set up last year to help kick-start the development of local technology companies.
In January the Yorkshire Post reported how text messages were being used by health services to tell people test results and remind them of appointments.
greg.wright@ypn.co.uk
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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