Digital autonomy and patient direction offer the caregiver administrative relief and thus more time for care tasks. Based on this shared vision, Health Cloud Initiative (HCI) and Quli have joined forces. With HCI as sole shareholder, digital health platform or PBM Quli is entering a new phase, says managing director Hans ter Brake: "Our social ambition remains. And with HCI we choose a more businesslike approach."
Quli and HCI are not accidental passers-by for each other. Both companies are each in their own way pioneers in the field of digital healthcare. HCI's ambition is to reduce the administrative burden of healthcare providers to the absolute minimum and to support healthcare providers optimally in the changes in the healthcare field. HCI does this by offering healthcare providers innovative electronic patient records and e-health solutions.
Quli operates from the firm belief that healthcare becomes better and more efficient if users can participate fully digitally. To this end, Quli - short for Quality of Life - has developed a digital health platform with more than 50,000 connections.
Digital participation
According to Ter Brake, greater digital participation of citizens should be a no brainer. "You're going to have to give people autonomy and direction, because otherwise care won't pull it off. We can no longer pay for it or staff it. Healthcare is still taking on administrative work that other sectors, such as banking, retail and travel, have long since abandoned. Those have reduced their administration and greatly improved their services by allowing clients to participate digitally themselves. But in healthcare today, you are still often digitally locked out. You have no idea what people have recorded about you. You don't have access to your data and you don't have digital capabilities to manage your own process."
Pension Overview
With the introduction of the MedMij agreement system for secure and standardized data exchange in 2018, some progress has been made. But according to Ter Brake, the emphasis in introducing MedMij standards is still too much on merely making data available.
Healthcare consumer
Ter Brake: "I compare it to the pension statement. You can't do much with that. You have the data and then what? That is also the MedMij thinking that is in many people's heads. Give the patient his data, then he won't complain anymore. But healthcare consumers want more. They want to be digitally part of the care pathway. He wants at least all his data. And he wants services so that he can participate digitally. If that patient is a fully-fledged digital part of the care process, things can be different and better."
Patient data exchange
With HCI, Quli at least has a partner who wants to work on proper access and exchange of patient data. "By making that data available to healthcare consumers, you involve the patient in their treatment and encourage therapy compliance," HCI founder Eric de Boer told Dutch Health Hub earlier.
Disability and mental health care
As far as Ter Brake is concerned, the collaboration with HCI heralds a new phase in the development of Quli. Five providers of disability care and mental health care took the initiative for the development of a digital environment for residents, clients and their families to get a grip on life, health and care. IT company Ordina was brought in as developer during this pioneering phase.
To take the initiative to the next level, Quli was transformed into a limited liability company ten years ago. In addition to the healthcare providers involved and Ordina, NextGen Ventures also participated.
With the exit of the investment company, Quli had to look for a new shareholder. "Then we asked the question whether it wouldn't be wise to go to one shareholder with a more business-like touch," Ter Brake says. "After a market survey, HCI jumped out. We are very happy that we came to business. In combination with Uw Zorg Online, we can quickly make the Quli idea and functionality available to a large population of caregivers."
Social objective
In Quli, HCI encounters a company with a clear social objective. That objective is closely linked to its genesis. "Quli is not for every user. From our background, we focus particularly on people in vulnerable circumstances and their loved ones," Ter Brake explains.
"Quli's motto is 'lifelong and life-wide.' We are not only concerned with care, but also with education, day care and work - in short, supporting the user's life in a meaningful way. If Quli were a human, it would be a butler. Quli is behind and beside you, already doing the things you need or knowing what to do. Moreover, we focus emphatically on the support network of family, loved ones and friends."
More than PBM
This makes Quli more than a PBM as far as Ter Brake is concerned. "Quli already existed eight years before MedMij started. We continued to develop it all the time. For example, look at how we have hung positive health into it. That has nothing to do with MedMij. That's why I always talk about Quli as a health platform with PGO facilities or MedMij data access in it."
"I often compare Quli to TUI's app. You book your whole trip, from airport and airliner to bus, hotel and trips, with one app. And if something happens, you can contact them digitally so they can help you further. You can make a journey like that in healthcare, too. If you have a disability, you always have to deal with multiple parties in the process. Then you need a travel companion."