The Pregnabit system will be tested by the leading provider of telemedicine solutions in Norway. This is the start of the company’s product commercialization in Northern Europe.
We have just signed our first business partnership contract in Scandinavia. Our Norwegian telemedicine partner, Dignio AS Aksjeselskap, will test the Pregnabit device for the mobile CTG along with the dedicated platform for display and analysis of teleCTG results. Norway is the fourth country in the world as regards the highest expenditure on healthcare per capita (USD 6,700 per person according to OECD Health Statistics 2017). Therefore it is one of the strategic markets for Nestmedic.
The international expansion of Nestmedic is gaining momentum. Recently, we have started collaborating with a partner in Germany, now we are entering Norway. It is a country with high spending on telemedicine and impressive birth rate in the European context, says Patrycja Wizińska-Socha, M.D., CEO at Nestmedic.
Dignio provides telemedicine solutions to suppliers of healthcare services, e.g. hospitals, clinics and in-home nurses. The company has been operating for nearly 8 years and it offers products for people suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. In collaboration with Nestmedic, it will provide state-of-the-art solutions to pregnant women. In 2016, Dignio increased sales by 76% YOY.
The Scandinavian market presents great prospects due to the geography of the land which makes telemedicine solutions indispensable. They are regularly used by 75% of Norwegian hospitals and in the northern parts of the country it is 100%, explains Anna Skotny, M.D., General Manager and Co-founder of Nestmedic.
The telemedicine market in Norway is actively supported by the Norwegian government. In 2016, the E-Health Department was established as the agency responsible for development and management of electronic collaboration in the sector of healthcare and welfare. At present, more than 80% of medical devices used in Norway are imported. Expenditure on healthcare in Norway amounts to one of the highest in the world and is reflected in the share of the Gross Domestic Product at 10.5% (in Poland it was 6.4%; OECD Health Statistics 2017).
