The research builds on an independent NHS evaluation of
Babylon GP at Hand, which found that A&E attendance rates
reduced by 28% after members joined the service
- New peer-reviewed research finds that members of
Babylon's highly accessible NHS primary care service, Babylon GP at
Hand, incurred between 15-35% lower acute hospital costs than the
regional average
- Babylon GP at Hand is a highly accessible, digital-first,
NHS primary care service providing full NHS primary care to over
100,000 people across London and
Birmingham
- The research provides evidence that the Babylon model of
highly accessible, digital-first primary care, where members have
access to the full suite of Babylon technology, is associated with
significantly lower downstream care costs
- The savings are observed after adjusting for differences in
healthcare need between Babylon GP at Hand members and all other
practices in the region, for example, age, sex and
deprivation
LONDON, July 22, 2021
/PRNewswire/ -- Researchers at Babylon, a leading
digital-first value-based healthcare company, have found that
members of Babylon's highly accessible, 24/7 primary care model
incurred between 15-35% lower acute hospital costs than the
regional average.
Babylon GP at Hand is a digital-first NHS GP practice, free at
the point of need for members. Over 80% of appointments are
virtual, which members can access at any time of day or night, 365
days per year. Every member has access to a full suite of self-care
technology, including symptom checking, digital health assessment
and digital twin avatars as well as virtual and in-person
consultations. Over 100,000 people across London and Birmingham have registered with Babylon GP at
Hand since November 2017.
Dr Sam Winward, lead author, said
"This work shows that the Babylon model of highly accessible,
digital-first primary care is associated with significantly lower
downstream costs. The findings were observed after adjusting for
healthcare needs, meaning they do not simply reflect the fact that
Babylon members were typically younger than the comparator group.
The savings in secondary care significantly outweigh the additional
investment required to provide the Babylon model of primary care,
making it an important proof point for our global mission, to
provide an accessible, affordable health service to every person on
earth."
The peer-reviewed research titled 'The effect of 24/7,
digital-first NHS primary care on acute hospital spend: a
retrospective, observational analysis' published in JMIR,
compared the spend per patient at the Babylon GP at Hand practice
to all other practices in the North West
London region. Lower costs were seen over two consecutive
years, during which time the registered population of Babylon GP at
Hand doubled in size, demonstrating that the effect is scalable.
The work builds on findings from an independent NHS evaluation of
Babylon GP at Hand, which reported that members were significantly
less likely to use certain emergency services after registering
with Babylon GP at Hand.
Ali Parsa, CEO of Babylon, said:
"The triple-aim of healthcare has long been clear - to improve the
patient experience of care; to improve the health of populations;
and to reduce the per capita cost of healthcare. Preventative
healthcare is now understood to be the key to unlocking these
benefits, but all too often general practices are not resourced or
able to provide the accessibility of high quality care required. As
a result, primary care clinicians burn out, costs bankrupt people
and patient populations are not well served. Babylon has invested
in accessibility, in technology and in supporting staff, with the
deliberate aim of solving more of our members' problems in primary
care. It's great to see further evidence that our end-to-end
digital-first services are benefiting patients and doctors by
solving patient health problems and reducing expensive downstream
care, through accessible and clinically effective primary
care.".
Darshak Sanhavi, CMO of Babylon and former group director of CMS
during the Obama administration, added: "This is powerful evidence
that by improving access through digital-first healthcare can lead
to meaningful reduction on downstream care costs. This is a lesson
that can apply outside the UK into markets like the US,
Canada, and beyond."
Some of Babylon's digital-first healthcare services are already
available at the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust Wolverhampton and
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, reaching over
1.5 million patients. Both NHS Trusts partnered with Babylon to use
the app-based service to help flag patients with potential
coronavirus, as well as assist those who have been diagnosed with
coronavirus to address their medical needs.
Notes to Editors
About Babylon
Babylon is a world leading, digital-first, value-based care
company whose mission is to make high-quality healthcare accessible
and affordable for everyone on Earth.
Babylon is reengineering healthcare, shifting the focus from
sick care to preventative healthcare so that patients experience
better health, and reduced costs. This is achieved by leveraging a
highly scalable, digital-first platform combined with high quality,
virtual clinical services to provide all-in-one healthcare. We
endeavour to keep patients at the peak of health and get them back
on their feet as quickly as possible, all from their devices, with
the aim to promote longer and healthier lives. When sick, Babylon
provides assistance to navigate the health system, connecting
patients digitally to the right clinician 24/7, at no additional
cost.
Founded in 2013, we have since delivered millions of clinical
consultations and AI interactions, with c.2m clinical consultations
and c.3.9m AI interactions in 2020
alone. We work with governments, health providers and insurers
across the globe, and support healthcare facilities from small
local practices to large hospitals.
On June 3 2021, Babylon
announced its plans to become a public company via a merger with
Alkuri Global Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:KURI), a special purpose
acquisition company. Upon closing of the transaction, the combined
company will operate as Babylon and plans to trade on Nasdaq under
the new symbol "BBLN". The transaction reflects an initial pro
forma equity value of approximately $4.2
billion. The transaction is expected to close in the second
half of 2021.
For more information, please visit www.babylonhealth.com/us.
About the research
The paper, titled The effect of 24/7, digital-first NHS
primary care on acute hospital spend: a retrospective,
observational analysis'' and authored by Winward S et
al. will be published in JMIR and available from
22 July 06 am GMT.
Acute hospital spending for each practice was obtained through a
freedom of information request; no patient-identifiable information
was accessed or used. Each practice population was adjusted for
healthcare need, using standard NHS methods, therefore removing any
difference in spending that may arise due to the difference in
populations, such as patients being younger. Three NHS methods were
used to adjust for healthcare need, hence the range of percentages
quoted in the findings. Although the study found 51% lower spending
using the Carr-Hill weighting methodology, our quoted central
finding is 15-35%. The Carr-Hill weighting takes into account
demographics and other drivers of need, but is designed to
determine primary funding / spend, which will not fully reflect
acute care spend. This weighting approach was recommended in the
FOI response and UK readers may expect to see it, hence it was
included in the research and used as a cross check but not quoted
in the central 15-35% finding.
North West London is used as
the comparator as the Babylon GP at Hand practice is located in
this area. Hospital spend across GP practices with different
demographics and locations is compared by using the cost per
weighted patient. Patient weightings are used by the NHS to ensure
fair allocation of resources.
The NHS-commissioned independent evaluation of Babylon GP at
Hand reported the likelihood of a patient attending Accident and
Emergency for each of the 12 months before and after joining
Babylon GP at Hand. The 28% difference reported is the difference
between the average for the 12 months before and the 12 months
after joining. For the full report, please see here.
Media contact: Stina Sanders,
stina.sanders@babylonhealth.com