Case Study
T-Pro
The Irish start-up T-Pro wanted to test the potential of a expandation into the german healthcare market of its digital product – a dictation solution with speech recognition for the use in clinics and hospitals.
Case Study
webdoctor.ie
INITIAL SITUATION
Irish company WebDoctor Limited was interested in assessing the
potential for their digital product, a telehealth platform solution, in
Germany and what were the best routes to market.
- This had to be done quickly, without major cost and personnel expenditure. For example, WebDoctor did not want to establish an office with several employees in Germany in order not to be permanently tied to fixed costs. Starting such a test phase from Dublin is difficult to do, especially given language barriers, cultural differences and differences in the healthcare systems. Above all, WebDoctor needed holistic support with expert knowledge in the digital health sector – from regulatory affairs to marketing, sales to technical implementation and IT support.
- Bypassing language barriers: Acquisition activities and demo presentations
for potential customers should be done in native German with the expectation for a greater market acceptance of the product.
- The company was looking for a product market fit analysis within the
shortest possible time to get a realistic feeling whether and how it could
position itself in Germany. A core goal was being able to decide to what
extent further action and investments would be worthwhile.
THE BACKGROUND
What is WebDoctor? The company is based in Dublin, where their product is researched and designed. The company has been very successful in Ireland, building a digital platform to allow its business customers remove inefficiencies inherent in the healthcare & insurance industry. This is composed of various modules like an online booking system, telemedicine consultation, medication monitoring, integration into legacy systems etc. By handling everything online, several work steps and a lot of time can be saved. If a clinic, a doctor‘s practice or a pharmacy already has certain services available, those services can be extended by integrating individual modules into the existing IT environment.
How did the contact with Germany come up? The cooperation between Webdoctor and DHP was arranged by Enterprise Ireland, an organisation of the Irish government that supports Irish businesses expand into international markets.
Why DHP? The German company sees itself as a full-service provider for all aspects of digital health. With a team of marketing, sales and IT experts along with a diverse network of partners, it supports (foreign) start-ups and companies establish themselves in the German market.
CONCLUSION
David Crimmins –
CEO of Webdoctor.ie:
„The 100 days proof of market sprint and the collaboration with the Digital Health Port were very helpful and valuable for us. Without the support from the DHP, we could never have been able to get so many in-depth insights about the German healthcare market as well as direct access to potential customers at this speed. During the 100 days, we were always involved in the activities and could ask questions about their work at any time. All in all, a top collaboration that I can highly recommend to any company that is looking to enter the German digital health market.“
PROCEDURE AND SOLUTION
DHP offers international digital health companies the ability to evaluate their market entry into Germany and establishing first customer contacts via the 100-day program „Proof-of-Market Sprint“ which is divided into 4 phases:
Phase 1: Onboarding
The focus at the beginning is to get to know each other and to learn more about the products and services. Another important aspect of the onboarding phase to understand the previous market activities, target groups, references and sales processes from the customer‘s point of view.
Phase 2: Preparation
Based on the findings from Phase 1, product & customer specific market analysis and research are carried out, target customers are selected, and a sales concept is created. This concept then provides the basis for preparing the marketing documents in the form of a factsheet in German.
Phase 3: Action
In this phase, intensive market development and lead generation takes place through multi-channel addressing of potential customers. Support of the whole sales cycle: both inbound
and outbound activities are used to develop as many leads as
possible, to manage them and to close the sale.
Phase 4: Closing
During the final project phase, all findings and leads are summarised, presented and handed over. A concise roadmap for potential next steps will be presented in order to retain the momentum.
RESULTS
The WebDoctor project was conducted from June to September 2021 and WebDoctor always remained informed about the individual steps during regular update calls, usually every 2 weeks.
In this regard the good communication was emphasized. It was literally said that during the 100 days, the company in Ireland could always be sure that DHP was actively advancing its interests.
- A total of 17 medical care centers (MVZs) have shown interest and would like to stay updated on the progress
- Two of these MVZs were generally interested in receiving a MVP demo presentation to better understand WebDoctor, its USPs and potential in detail
- Two hospitals are evaluating whether Webdoctor could be used as a patient portal as part of the funding provided by the Hospital Futures Act
- A large German pharmacy publisher and multiplier is
interested in using Webdoctor as a SaaS solution for its more than 7,000 pharmacy customers to build new
services
- Participation in a current tender of the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians in Baden-Württemberg was prepared and submitted
Furthermore, DHP was able to generate a wide range of market insights to further increase the chances of a successful market entry in Germany.
In the case of WebDoctor:
- Presentation of the different compensation models
among the diverse customer groups in the German healthcare system as well as the various government subsidies in digital health
- ntified necessary certifications for the video consultation module to comply with German regulations in order to increase its attractiveness among physicians in private practice and their associations
- Necessity of a MVP to allow demos in accordance with the predefined criteria for patient portals from the Hospital Future Act.
- The results provided WebDoctor a realistic assessment of its market opportunities.
- In addition, the Start-up was also able to use the findings to soundly communicate the potential of internationalization to investors and successfully close a financing round
News & References
Developments in digital health are very dynamic. To give you a good and efficient orientation in the multitude of topics, you will find topic-specific news and assessments on a regular basis.
Case Study
SyncroPhi
The Irish company SyncroPhi Systems ltd. Located in Galway, Ireland would like to launch its product KEWS300 on the German market.
