NHS Efficiency Boost: Healthtech-1 Secures £2.7M for Primary Care Automation
London, Tuesday, 9 July 2024.
London-based startup Healthtech-1 raises £2.7 million to revolutionize NHS primary care. Their technology automates administrative tasks, potentially saving millions of GP appointments annually. The funding, led by Moonfire and Y Combinator, aims to expand their solution to 90% of UK GP practices by 2025.
The Innovation in Healthtech
Healthtech-1, founded by Peter Huang and Raj Kohli in 2021, is a London-based startup that focuses on automating administrative tasks in primary care for the NHS. The company’s technology aims to streamline processes such as GP registration and lab report filings, which are typically slow and prone to errors. By automating these tasks, Healthtech-1 is designed to save significant time for NHS staff, allowing them to focus more on patient care rather than administrative duties.
The Mechanics of the Solution
The core of Healthtech-1’s innovation lies in its use of advanced identity-checking algorithms backed by NHS records. This technology automates the patient registration process by conducting identity checks, writing data into the system, and flagging areas that require attention, such as safeguarding. Additionally, the platform automates about 20% of normal and abnormal lab results, with plans to expand this capability to 50% of practice results. If successful, this could add the equivalent of 2 million GP appointments annually[1].
Financial Backing and Future Plans
The recent seed funding round, which raised £2.7 million, was led by Moonfire and Y Combinator, with contributions from several angel investors. Moonfire is known for investing in transformative startups in Europe, while Y Combinator is a Silicon Valley-based startup accelerator with a history of backing successful ventures. With this funding, Healthtech-1 plans to double its headcount from 15 by the end of 2024 and expand its technology to cover 90% of GP practices in the UK by 2025[2].
Impact on NHS and Primary Care
Since its inception, Healthtech-1 has already made a notable impact by saving over 85,000 hours of NHS staff time. By automating tedious and time-consuming administrative tasks, the company not only improves efficiency but also reduces the likelihood of errors in patient data handling. This improvement is crucial in a post-pandemic world where healthcare systems are under immense pressure to manage large volumes of patients efficiently[3].
Long-Term Vision
Healthtech-1’s long-term vision is to make the NHS the most advanced healthcare system globally by focusing on building core parts of the patient’s healthcare journey before implementing AI capabilities. According to co-founder Pete Huang, the aim is to create a more streamlined and effective primary care system, ultimately providing better patient outcomes and more efficient use of resources. The company’s partnership with the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Program further highlights its commitment to driving innovation in healthcare[4].