Deep Medical

One challenge we've faced in clinics is the risk of overbooking when filling potentially vacant slots. As a former clinician, overbooking was a constant concern for me. I remember the stress of having two patients show up at the end of the day, which meant a quick juggle of my personal commitments. For surgeons this can be even more challenging when they need to prepare for theatre. It’s crucial for the health and wellbeing of the clinical workforce to avoid disruptions caused by overbooking. We've been very mindful of this in our approach, making sure that our AI  maintains safe metrics to manage patient flow effectively. At Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, we’ve implemented a strategy that adds an extra patient to the clinic schedule at 2.5% of the clinic capacity. This might not sound like a lot, but it translates to an additional 28,000 patients seen annually in Mid and South Essex. The great news here is that clinics have not exceeded their capacity 87% of the time. This shows that the approach used is effective and scalable, allowing clinics to see more patients while maintaining their operational limits and not overwhelming their resources.   It’s a win-win; clinics can see more patients through targeted AI messaging and two-way text communications - without overwhelming clinical staff. This represents a completely new approach in making sure we see the right number of patients in clinic.  __________________________________________________ Benyamin Deldar is co-founder and co-CEO at Deep Medical.

🏥Our team has strong roots in the NHS, with experience spanning frontline care, clinical leadership, and healthcare innovation. Many of our team have spent their careers working in the NHS, both as doctors and in leadership roles. From the start, we’ve been backed by the NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA), a programme that helps bring healthcare innovation into the NHS to improve patient care and support frontline staff. Last year, our co-founder Benyamin Deldar was selected as an NIA Fellow for 2024, joining a group of twelve innovators working to solve some of healthcare’s biggest challenges. Ben is also a junior doctor in the NHS. His background includes academic research in AI and Radiology at Johns Hopkins University and King’s College London. Sir David Sloman, one of our advisors, was Chief Operating Officer of NHS England until 2023. He previously led the NHS in London and was CEO of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. He was knighted in 2017 for his services to the NHS. Patrick Mitchell, also an advisor, is Director of Innovation, Transformation and Digital at Health Education England. He has held leadership roles as COO of St. George’s Healthcare NHS Trust and Director of Operations at the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust. At Deep Medical, we’re not just building technology, we’re working alongside the NHS to create real, lasting impact.

✨ ‘I've been reflecting on the findings from the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust implementation pilot and one thing is clear; we have a scalable solution to reduce waiting lists and increase patient access to care. We’ve developed a technology that operates in a similar way to social media platforms, learning from user interactions to improve engagement. Our AI system has the ability to learn and adapt from its interactions with patients, enabling more personalised communication with them. And as communication gets more personalised, patient engagement increases. By identifying patients who may be at risk of not attending their appointments (DNAs), we can proactively reach out, nudging them to confirm, reschedule, or cancel their appointments as needed. Again, the key here is the way in which we engage with patients - and how we learn about their communication preferences, using AI. The result is that we’ve seen a remarkable 300% increase in cancellation and rescheduling requests from patients, leading to an additional 20% reduction in no-show rates above traditional two way patient messaging. This demonstrates a highly scalable approach that complements existing hospital practices, allowing for a significant decrease in clinic DNA rates and improved patient access to care. I’m particularly excited about the potential to enhance personalisation even further in the future by adding more communication channels, adjusting content, and even organising Uber rides for patients who need help with transport to their appointment. But this is just the beginning. I’m confident that we’ve developed flexible, plug-and-play solutions that hospitals can easily implement to address their waitlist challenges. There’s a positive momentum here, and I see significant potential for growth moving forward.' _______________________________________________________ Benyamin Deldar is co-founder and co-CEO at Deep Medical.

Our latest newsletter explores how we could help meet the government’s target of two million additional NHS appointments a year, by scaling the results of our recent pilot with Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust Essex NHS Trust. We also hear from our advisor, Patrick Mitchell, Director of Innovation, Transformation, and Digital at Health Education England, on the importance of designing health policy around patient needs.

At a recent social care summit with Oxfordshire County Council, we highlighted a critical issue in hospitals; frail patients repeatedly bouncing between clinics when they could be better supported in the community. Our AI algorithms ensure frail patients are identified and care is delivered where it's needed, rather than relying solely on traditional bricks and mortar services. This shift could free up hospital resources for those who truly need them while also improving patient outcomes. Here’s an example. At 82, Jeff has had 15 hospital appointments over the last year, seeing multiple specialists. But cognitive impairment means he struggles to get to hospital and transport is another barrier for him. What he really needs is a specialist assessment in his own home, not another trip to a hospital clinic. The wider challenge? A small but high-needs elderly population can easily fall through the cracks. Social care should step in, but funding is tied up in hospitals. So how can we redirect those resources to deliver proactive, community-based care? Care that aligns with Labour’s healthcare agenda to move care closer to home and the community. We believe it’s time to rethink how we allocate healthcare funding and embrace AI-driven, patient centred care.

How our products work together to support better patient outcomes. This 28-year-old woman had an Ophthalmology appointment booked in at 2pm on a Wednesday. Our DM Schedules predicted a 70% chance of DNA based on age and specialty. To mitigate this, DM Connects sent two AI-powered calls and one SMS reminder to the patient. Because DM Connects tailors communication to the individual needs and preferences of patients, it significantly increases engagement. In fact, during our recent pilot with Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, we saw 4x more engagement with hospital messaging when DM Connects was used, compared to traditional two-way messaging. The result? The patient attended her appointment. So a better outcome for the patient - and a more efficient service in clinic. 

A recent Healthwatch England survey looked at the connection between poverty, poor health, and the challenges in accessing healthcare. It found that additional barriers to care include the difficulty of taking time off work and the financial burden of travelling to appointments. While as a country we have one of the best hospital attendance rates in the world, it’s clear that poorer people in our society find it much harder than the well-off to access vital NHS care when they need it. When there’s 5.8m people waiting for outpatient care, 12m idle appointments and a 10 year life expectancy difference between the richest and poorest 20% of the population, we need to address these issues together for the greater good of our health system - and society as a whole. That's why this result from our pilot at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust is so significant; a 30% reduction in missed appointments among patients from the most disadvantaged areas (bottom 20% on the deprivation scale). We also saw a 20% drop in missed appointments (DNAs) when using DM Connects instead of basic two-way messaging, a 20% reduction in last minute cancellations, and a 393% increase in patients requesting to cancel or reschedule appointments. But these aren’t just numbers. They’re real improvements in access to care, for those patients who need it most. 

When a patient cancels at short notice, clinical staff are left with empty slots and lost time. But what if we could predict these cancellations - and act before they happen? Take this example; 👤 A 76-year-old male had a Urology appointment at 4pm on a Friday. 📊 Our DM Schedules predicted a 44.8% chance of DNA (Did Not Attend) due to the patient’s age and history of DNAs. 📲 Our DM Connects used AI to send out personalised reminders to the patient, but couldn’t reach the him, raising the DNA risk to 80%. 🔄 The solution? The clinic was able to book another patient into the slot from the waiting list. ✅ The result: The original patient DNA’d, but the slot was still used, reducing wasted time - and the patient waiting list. This approach is already having a positive impact in our pilot at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust. At full scale, the Trust is on track to enable at least 100,000 extra patients to be seen, and by identifying last-minute cancellations, it has already created an additional 40,000 appointment slots. As a result, the Trust is projected to free up £28 million in funded capacity. Want to learn more about how DM Connects and DM Schedules can optimise NHS appointments? DM us for more information.

🏥Our team has strong roots in the NHS, with experience spanning frontline care, clinical leadership, and healthcare innovation. Many of our team have spent their careers working in the NHS, both as doctors and in leadership roles. From the start, we’ve been backed by the NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA), a programme that helps bring healthcare innovation into the NHS to improve patient care and support frontline staff. Last year, our co-founder Benyamin Deldar was selected as an NIA Fellow for 2024, joining a group of twelve innovators working to solve some of healthcare’s biggest challenges. Ben is also a junior doctor in the NHS. His background includes academic research in AI and Radiology at Johns Hopkins University and King’s College London. Sir David Sloman, one of our advisors, was Chief Operating Officer of NHS England until 2023. He previously led the NHS in London and was CEO of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. He was knighted in 2017 for his services to the NHS. Patrick Mitchell, also an advisor, is Director of Innovation, Transformation and Digital at Health Education England. He has held leadership roles as COO of St. George’s Healthcare NHS Trust and Director of Operations at the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust. At Deep Medical, we’re not just building technology, we’re working alongside the NHS to create real, lasting impact.

Does AI make us less human? Or can it help us understand people better? Lots of us assume that AI lacks the human touch. But at Deep Medical our AI is built to better understand people and how they behave - so we can help them access the care they need, when they need it. Take this real-world example. 📍A 54 year old patient, with a pain clinic appointment at 8:50 am on a Thursday. 🧠 Our model predicted a 68.8% chance of non-attendance, due to transport barriers and deprivation. (This patient’s condition made it challenging for him to travel during rush hour). 📲 DM Connects sent the patient three reminders at times outside of work ✅ The result? A reschedule request, helping the patient attend at a more convenient time (that avoided travelling at a busy time). This isn’t just automation. It's AI that’s helping the NHS reduce missed appointments by meeting people where they are. Putting the patient right at the centre of their care.