We sat down with Netta Nyrhinen, Head of Communications and PR at DrDoctor, to chat about their response to the pandemic, their COVID-19 Toolkit, and advice for young start ups.
Can you tell us in a few words what DrDoctor does?
Absolutely! DrDoctor transforms the way hospitals communicate with their patients. This ranges anywhere from: admin, when it comes to appointment management, or booking or cancelling or rescheduling appointments; to remote care - so we're finding different digital solutions to how patients can be treated remotely at home. Our ultimate goal is patient engagement and patient agency: giving people control over their own healthcare journey.
Has the pandemic impacted on the work you've been doing?
Hugely. If you rewind back to March, the day before lockdown we had 19 clients, so 19 trusts, in the NHS that we were working with, that our solution was used in. And we had a very solid product offering. So we were focused on the comms, appointment management, that kind of admin burden relief. That was our bread and butter. And then, overnight, everything changed. The initial response from the NHS was to keep patients away from hospitals. So they came to us and they said: “Oh, my God, how do I inform thousands of people that from tomorrow, they shouldn't come to their appointment?” Now you've got to remember that these are people that potentially have cancer, they might be about to go for orthopaedic surgery, or they might have a chronic condition like diabetes that they need help monitoring. What we ended up doing was developing a brand new suite of tools that we call the ‘COVID response toolkit’ to help hospitals, essentially keep patients away in the beginning, because that was the national response. So we developed five new products during lockdown, in the first instance, and decided to offer them for all trusts in the NHS free of charge. What that’s meant now, fast forward to 7 months later; we now have 30 clients. So we went from 19 to 30. And our product offering has grown hugely by six new products, including our native video consultation solution. The focus of the company has now become how to treat patients at home rather than how to enable them to simply communicate with hospitals.
Amazing. Can you tell us a little bit about the uptake in the hospitals, maybe the feedback that you've received?
So what's unique about us is the way we approach product development. So when we develop our products, we very much do that in collaboration with our clients or our partners, as we call them; we have a constant two way feedback. Say we build a prototype, like we did in the case of the video consultation solution, we would then go back to our client and say: What did you like? What didn’t you like? What would you improve on? What do you need more of? What works better for you? As a result, we have a very unique insight into what works for the NHS and what works for patients and clinicians alike. What that’s meant is that currently our video consultation solution, which I just mentioned, is being received incredibly well, and the majority of our existing clients are interested in finding out more; expanding their product update that they have from DrDoctor.
And was it a risk to put out that many products in such a short time?
Actually, I would say no. When we first created the COVID-19 response tool kit, we did it in collaboration with a trust that we were already embedded with, so we already had that existing relationship of two way communication, and of reiterating our product. So I think it was much more that it wasn't a risk as such, it was a pressure and it was finally time for us to practice what we preach - to help the NHS - which is exactly why we decided to waive our fees when it comes to the product. We literally just wanted to help, because the NHS needed help more than ever. This is why we also decided to waive the fees on our COVID-19 tool kit.
Amazing. And how were you able to do this financially?
So we cut all our licencing fees, because obviously we were in a situation where we didn't do it for financial gain. We did it from the desire to help. We were able to do that just by doing all the development in-house like we would anyway; so utilising our existing team and working really, really hard - actually working night and day, 24 hours a day.
That's great. And did DrDoctor grow as a result?
Hugely! So at the start of lockdown, we were 40 people. And as of today, we are 67 people. And I reckon we will be approximately 80 by the end of the year. That means doubling the size in one year.
Wow, that is incredible. How has the response from other health tech providers been to your COVID-19 Toolkit?
It’s been really positive. The NHS values things like interoperability and forming an ecosystem of providers to help. I think this has been the perfect opportunity for health tech to come together and tackle the problem together, and that's certainly our approach when it comes to partnerships: finding the best of everything and offering our clients that exactly.
And has the Health Foundry supported you during this period?
Of course! So all the way from giving us access to the office when it was legal, taking care of security measures, making us feel comfortable when we had to come because of course
there were times when we simply had to be in the office, even for mental health reasons. Just by being able to come to a secure and safe environment and work effectively - that's been huge, and I think not something that should be taken for granted.
Thank you. And what do you see for the future of Doctor Doctor?
Our ultimate goal is to empower patients in their own care. So maybe in the future patients could, by enabling the right technology in the right way, receive care that they so desperately need without major disruption in their lives. But then there's the other side to it, which is clinicians and there's no reason why clinicians could not also work from home at times giving them the ability to have a more flexible life, or a more flexible family life for example. And what that would also mean is that we wouldn't rely on those huge buildings called hospitals, for people to receive care from, and that it will become much more on their own terms.
Thank you so much. And can you share with us any lesson that you've learned or piece of advice for younger startups on how to approach offering solutions or products to the NHS?
I would say, if it comes to product development, listen and take feedback on board, and ask as many people as possible. Test your ideas. Test your user experience as much as you can, because ultimately, if you're in this field, you probably want to improve efficiency or improve services and delivery. You want that feedback.
Interviewer: Sara El Sheekh
Words: Aadam Muuse