Article content
In most nations of the world, the healthcare sector remains one of the most overburdened. Industry62 is changing that narrative through transformational e-health solutions. But they aren’t even stopping at healthcare; they are transforming multiple spheres within the public and private scene.
Founded in 2005, Industry62 is a holistic IT company at the forefront of making digital solutions in diverse spheres ranging from healthcare to telecoms, banking, green IT, and culture for both the public and private sectors. They specialise in various services such as software architecture framing, UX and visual design, agile development, data analytics, and go-to-market strategy.
“My colleagues who founded the company and I wanted to come up with creative and beneficial projects. We wanted to develop software that would change the world. As co-founders, we had much more freedom to choose projects that were impactful while also developing the company,” says Andrus Altrov, the company’s CEO and co-founder. Under his strategic management, local and international projects such as eAmbulance, Cross-border ePrescriptions, MyHealth@Hand, Frank the Brilliant, Taksu-inssi, and Estonian Digital Forest Register have been successfully brought to life.
Transforming the e-health sphere
Although Industry62 is actively creating digital products for diverse spheres and sectors, e-health has been one of their most dominant fields. Most notably, Industry62 collaborated with Hewlett Packard (HP) to develop the Estonian National Health Information System (ENHIS). ENHIS serves as the central information system that collects the basic medical information and medical history report of all Estonians and resident foreigners for easy assessment.
ENHIS isn’t just a simple data archive; it also connects all Estonian e-health services for the smooth running of operations and swift information recovery. “We are particularly attracted to the impact of digitalisation on healthcare processes and the difference this can make to our lives. People get better care when healthcare services are joined up, and the most effective way of making this difference is through digitisation of data,” says Andrus. As of the last count, 1,536,254 people have their medical data recorded in ENHIS, and the system has 28,640,165 medical documents stored.
Swift healthcare response in time-critical situations
Recent times have shown that the world still lacks the active and swift healthcare response so greatly needed. Yet, in contrast, Estonia is faring so much better, thanks to the available top-notch healthcare system, strategic approach, and dynamic e-health system covering e-services such as the eAmbulance designed by Industry62.
“The eAmbulance digital service is a perfect example of a project that best demonstrates the real value of the Estonian National Health Information System (ENHIS) or (HIS). During an emergency – when time-critical information is vital – ambulance medics can use the eAmbulance app to access and interrogate HIS online for the patient’s data and past medical history. As they handle the emergency using the patient’s medical data, they input the case data and send their summary to HIS. Before the patient arrives at the hospital, the hospital already has access to these emergency notes via HIS for adequate preparation,” Andrus explains.
Breaking medical cross-border boundaries
Imagine having the same or similar medical treatment as you’d receive in your home country wherever you go within Europe. No, you don’t even have to imagine it; it’s already a reality, courtesy of Industry62. The Cross-border ePrescriptions is an e-health project by Industry62 that enables the transference of patient data summaries and the dispense of ePrescriptions and medicine for Europeans wherever they go within Europe. Since the exchange became active, no less than 1,000 Finnish patients traveling in Estonia have collected their descriptions from local pharmacies.
“Finland and Estonia became the first live participants in dispensing medicine using digital prescriptions in European pharmacies for people from other European countries. At the moment, Cross-border ePrescriptions are supported for people from Finland, Croatia, Luxembourg, and the Czech Republic,” Andrus outlines.
Extending dynamic digital innovation to the world
Beyond Estonia, Industry62 has been making waves creating digital services for other European countries and even another continent. One of the countries most constantly in partnership with Industry62 is Finland. At the moment, Industry62 is working with the Finnish Real Estate Management Federation to develop updated digital services to ease their operations. The digital services also help them serve the people better by improving living conditions for apartment dwellers, improving the smooth-running of residences, and making sure housing costs stay on budget.
As already said, Industry62 is servicing clients from far and near, and that “far” goes as farther as another continent – Africa. Joining hands with the Health[e]Foundation, Industry62 created the MyHealth@Hand mobile app to help tackle unsafe birthing situations, which is still a severe problem in several parts of Africa. The app was piloted in Uganda and Tanzania in 2019 and with other African countries expecting launch soon.
The MyHealth@Hand app serves as a doctor-mother communication platform, prenatal/antenatal appointment scheduler, and mom/foetus information database. The project consists of two separate applications: one for the moms-to-be and the other for the healthcare workers.
The impact of Covid-19
Like other companies, Industry62 has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and its resultants. “In the first instance, some customers reduced orders, and we had to lay off a few people,” notes Andrus, “however, I’m happy to say that demand is recovering; we are hiring again,” he continues.
“There has been a positive impact in the form of a new project. Synlab ordered the TESTI.ME application. This is a Progressive Web App (online) that makes it possible to show coronavirus test results and to generate a certificate swiftly. It’s a much-needed application for people who are travelling. We have also got quite a few customers for Frank the Brilliant.”
Frank the Brilliant is a peer-to-peer reward and insight tool for giving, receiving, and analysing feedback. “It’s a much-needed tool in the current climate: it measures the ‘mood of employees’ in organisations now that most are working from home,” he adds.
What’s next for Industry62?
Digital health is Industry62’s most dominant field, with its e-health clientele spanning governments and private companies. Yet, so much is still left to be done within the health-tech sphere. Industry62 is prepared to seize every opportunity that comes from there. They aren’t afraid of growth and expansion, even if it involves a different or new area.
“I think there is still a great deal we can achieve in Digital Health. This is the area where we expect the most growth in the coming years. But you never know…if we see a good opportunity in a new area, we might take it as well!” Andrus confirms.
Within e-health and beyond that sector, there’s no doubt that Industry62 has brought about game-changing digital solutions yet, they are just getting started on bringing the blissful future to us.
✈️ Can’t travel but want to hear the e-Estonia story or implement e-services in your country or company? Take a look at our services and get in touch – we’ve got you covered!
