eHealth business cases: Laastari Clinics

Laastari Lähiklinikka (FIN), Minutkliniken (SWE)

A chain of drop-in retail clinics for acute common illnessesand vaccinations.

Established: 2010 Finland

Operates in: Sweden and Finland

Number of employees: 15 (2015)

www-site: www.laastari.fi/en

Interview of Dr. Ron Liebkind, Laastari Lähiklinikka co-founder, and member of the GET Advisory Board.

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FACTS

eHealth business cases: Laastari Clinics.

1. Can you describe your solution and what it does?

We have established small healthcare clinics for givingvaccinations and treating a selection of common minor illnesses.The clinics are nurse driven and the nurses have a variety ofdiagnostic clinical tools, and direct access to doctor consultations.

Our niche in ehealth is to combine a clinical nurse appointmentwith doctors consultations. It enables the doctor to share theirclinical knowledge with many smaller clinics, and createsconvenience to the patient, since the access to treatmentbecomes much better. The nurses use the ehealth-consultingsystem for fast accurate data sharing and communication withdoctors.

2. Tell us how your business got started.

We started off with a vision of building retail clinics that wouldtreat minor illnesses in a fast and convenient way. By building theclinics and operating them in Finland and Sweden, we learnedfrom our environment and from our customers. We asked everycustomer a set of feedback questions, so that we would be able toimprove our service, and show other interest groups the value andeffect of what we were doing. We also followed closely what ourcustomers needed and developed those areas further to improveour services. Collected customer feedback information was usedfor developing new services for the retail clinics and marketingthese services to customers.

Furthermore, a thorough understanding of customer needs helpswhen launching new services and communicating with theregulation authorities. Well-documented customer feedbacksupports also discussions and negotiation with public sector healthservice decision makers in the municipalities. When you start abusiness that combines new styles of services in healthcare, it’snever easy and it takes several years and lots of analysis, to seewhat you have built.

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eHealth business cases: Laastari Clinics.

3. Can you describe your business model?

Our clinics found a customer base pretty fast, it was usuallyfamilies with kids that started using our clinics and thenrecommending the service to their friends and family. Our highcustomer satisfaction helped us build a customer base. We havevaluable experience from both Finland and Sweden.

When you operate in different environments and countries youlearn the market. We have adapted just in the same way aseverybody else has. A regulated market gives you only thepossibilities that are given to you by the authorities, therefore youhave to adapt to the regulations and try to develop your service aswell as possible within the limits.

4. What were the most important decisions or pivotswhile developing your current business model?

The most important is to be honest to the market you areoperating in and focus on the paying customer. In the Nordiccountries, the healthcare is controlled politically and the customeris usually connected to a system that pays their healthcare, that’swhy you have to adapt to the challenges involved. By focusing onthe customer, instead of trying to implement a model that youthink is great, you create a business model that can grow.

One sector, where we in the beginning very much had to proceedvia trial and error methodology, was selecting the right locationfor the retail clinics. Basically, it is relatively simple to definewhich areas have higher need for basic health care services.Nevertheless, determining how potential user base turns into realcustomers is not easy. One of the critical factors is how positive ornegative approach customers at the target market have towardsnew type of health care services.

Selecting the right partners is also very important with ourbusiness model. We have moved along on a positive learning curveon this and currently collaborate very successfully with apharmacy chain in Sweden. We also like to see municipalities asour potential customers. The mind-set or attitude of municipalityhealth care decision makers has proven to be a critical factorwhen developing collaboration models with a public health careproviders.

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eHealth business cases: Laastari Clinics.

5. Can you use the same business model in othercountries and/or in international market? Or did you dosome changes adapting to the market in each country?

Each country has their environment and market needs, thereforeyou have to adapt to each country separately. The service itselfhowever can usually be conveniently applied to the needs of thehealthcare system and the patients.

7. Do you see some new opportunities or threats toyour business model in the near future?

I see a lot of opportunities in our business for the future. Thehealthcare in Europe needs good solutions for its ageingpopulation. The old public system needs changes, private andinsurance medicine is developing, healthcare is more connected,new treatments have emerged, and a lot of people are gettingengaged in the development of our future healthcare. The threatis that politicians would not understand or feel incentivised tosupport the need for new service models.

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6. Can you tell some lessons learned during thebusiness development process?

Of course you would do some decisions differently. But the mostimportant learning is that in the end you are able to change yourprocesses on the way. All new ideas and service models change onthe way, if they don’t, they stop existing.

I guess several actions should have been done differently but youcan’t go back in time and change things that have already beendone. The important fact is that you try to do everything as well asyou can on a daily business and that you focus to change the thingsthat don’t work.

About the projectThe GET project delivers four high-impact services to eHealthSMEs and entrepreneurs in order to boost their growth andmove them to the next level of competitiveness.

Each service has been designed to provide cross-border valueto a different target group of companies. It will do by offeringtraining, mentoring, market intelligence, support and, aboveall, quality contacts.

These services are:

• Get on track Targets early-stage companies, start-ups andentrepreneurs. It supports them to optimize their businessmodel and commercialization strategy.

• Get funded Designed for SMEs looking for a second roundof funding. It provides training, resources and networkingopportunities with investors at European level.

• Get global Helps mature SMEs to access internationalmarkets by putting them in contact with foreigncommercialization partners and potential customers.

• Get inspired Identifies and disseminates unmet needs ineHealth that can become business opportunities forentrepreneurs and SMEs.

If you want to know what GET can do for you, suggest resources or insight

Contact us!

project@get-ehealth.eu

www.get-ehealth.eu

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This document is a deliverable of the European Project GET, fundedby the European Commission with Grant Agreement number 611709

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