Livi expands reach for its online consultation app with BMI alliance

An online consultation app developed by Livi is already available for around five million patients in the UK via NHS practices, and is now starting to roll out in the UK’s private healthcare sector.

In the latest move in that direction, Livi will now be deployed by BMI Healthcare, the UK’s largest private health chain with more than 50 hospitals across the country serving millions of patients.

The main aim of the BMI alliance is to connect Livi’s GP consultation services with the private healthcare company’s network of consultants, making it easier for specialist referrals to be organised remotely.

The digital health company says patients using Livi can complete consultations in less than 20 minutes, from the convenience of their own home, seven days a week.

It’s not the first foray into private health provision for Livi. Last year, it formed a partnership with pharmacy chain Boots to trial how patients could remotely access a Boots pharmacist via the Livi app, to get general health advice and discuss their prescription medications.

“Livi’s focus is to provide greater access to healthcare to improve health, wellbeing, and quality of life for everyone across the UK,” said the company’s partnerships director Simon Lucas.

“We believe that our partnership with BMI will support the incredible work of the NHS to help manage the current challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and is another facet of how Livi has played a role in supporting the NHS,” he told pharmaphorum.

The number of patients registered to use Livi jumped 78% last year, with a “huge rise” in the number of remote consultations being delivered in primary care after the first COVID-19 lockdown.

“We saw an acceleration in the uptake of digital tools and services as remote working became more widespread,” said Lucas. That was helped by the launch of Livi Connect, a free platform that enables healthcare professionals across Europe and the US to connect securely with their patients via video.

The new partnership with BMI will help to reduce pressure on NHS surgeries by minimising the need to visit a GP practice to get a referral.

Livi was appointed by the NHS to run the COVID Home Monitoring Service, providing data on the emergence of COVID-19 last year.

Other initiative included the launch of an at-home monitoring service to offer advice for people who have tested positive, or who are self-reporting symptoms, and a free coronavirus symptom checker.

Livi is also using its MJog patient messaging platform to support the rollout of vaccines via the NHS, to encourage uptake and counter anti-vaxxer misinformation on social media.

Read our Deep Dive interview with Livi's UK managing director Juliet Bauer.