Medical imaging company Feedback is to launch its new app, Bleepa, at the NHS Expo on 4-5 September in Manchester.

The clinical messaging product is currently in beta development. It is accessible through smartphones, tablets and desktops that facilities clinical messaging and review of medical grade imaging for all members of a clinical team, directly from a hospital Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) and aims to enable faster clinical decision making between team members.

According to an article published in BMJ Innovations, 97% of hospital doctors routinely use WhatsApp to communicate about patients.

This increasing trend for clinicians to use personal devices to discuss patient care and make clinical decisions is more convenient and efficient than traditional methods of clinical communication. However, using such methods opens doctors and their patients up to a variety of risks.

Bleepa attempts to address growing concerns about these messaging platforms not meeting diagnostics clinical standards and regarding patient data protection. Continued use of non-specialist communication tools could leave both hospitals and individual clinical users significantly exposed and therefore open to the risk of litigation.

The directors believe Bleepa will be the only communication tool to be a CE marked medical device.

Dr Tom Oakley, CEO of Feedback, said: “We are making rapid progress in the development of our new messaging app, Bleepa. We believe that it will provide a flexible, accurate and secure method for swift clinical decision making, revolutionising the way in which patients receive treatment whilst safeguarding our doctors from potential litigation. We look forward to showcasing the finished product this September at NHS Expo in Manchester.”