Swedish Care, a Sweden-based digital health services company, entered the Turkish market with the brand ‘DoktorNow’. Launched with an investment of 1.5 million Euros, the application will enable users to reach a doctor regardless of time and place by offering 24/7 digital health consultancy.
In the mobile application, where patient complaints about primary care conditions are received through artificial intelligence, users start to see a doctor from their homes or wherever they are located within an average of 5 minutes. Dr. İbrahim Kurt, Chairman of the Board of Tez Holding, is also involved in the investment in Turkey.
“Addressing a global problem with a proven solution”
Magnus Norberg, CEO of Swedish Care, said that Turkey is a strategic market for them. Norberg said, “We plan to increase our investment in Turkey at least 5 times in 5 years. Lack of doctors and lack of timely access to healthcare is a global problem. Tele-health services are a reality that reduces the burden on the conventional healthcare infrastructure and the results are proven with figures. There are serious changes in Scandinavian countries compared to 7 years ago. Most of the hospital visits related to primary diseases are now carried out with digital health solutions. A study by Harvard Business Review proves that hospital visits related to primary care conditions have decreased by 60 percent thanks to digital health solutions.”
Turkish market is open for improvement
According to figures, 300 million primary care examinations are performed annually in Turkey. The number of physicians per 1,000 people is 1.7. Norberg stated that they want to be part of the solution in the Turkish market, to enable people to reach the doctor more quickly in terms of time and cost advantages, and in this context, they have implemented a proven concept in the world and intend to transfer their know-how to other countries with new investments.
According to Dr. Cenk Tezcan, General Manager of Swedish Care Turkey, digital health services provide significant advantages in terms of time, cost and easy access to physicians for primary care conditions, while playing a major role in reducing patient burden in secondary and emergency care: “As DoktorNow Turkey, we have a strong digital infrastructure, growth-oriented business partners and expert physicians. Moreover, Turkish people adapt quickly to new technologies. I think Turkey will reach the same level as the leading markets in the number of users in digital health within 5 years.”
Dr. İbrahim Kurt, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Swedish Care’s investment in Turkey, said: “Foreign partnerships and investments are critical for the spread of digital health applications in Turkey. As group companies, our investments in this field will continue to increase.”
“Workplace Doctor” service for companies
Swedish Care Turkey General Manager Dr. Cenk Tezcan said that workplace doctor is also included in their services. Emphasizing that the personnel’s visit to a doctor to be diagnosed with a disease causes a cost and loss of time and efficiency for both themselves and their workplace, Tezcan said, “We will have package pricing for the services we will provide to workplaces. This service will reduce both time and efficiency loss. We will have package programs including options like 3 calls a month for 1 patient. Prescriptions will be written as a result of the calls. SSI staff will be able to buy it from the pharmacy. When an important disease is seen, it can be referred directly to a full-fledged hospital.” He said that the cost of doctor-patient consultation, which is 12 Euros for an individual membership in one call, will be in package pricing according to the number of personnel for workplaces. Tezcan said that their projects include cooperation with health insurance companies and that they will provide a separate package pricing and advantages to companies that have private health insurance for their staff, adding that they aim to reach 150 thousand members by 2024.