Healthtech brand Qardio adopts NetSuite OneWorld

Catering for the healthcare market

Many startups are established to address a real-life problem, and Qardio was created after its founder’s father suffered a stroke.

To address a gap in the market for portable, modern, personal healthcare devices, Qardio developed devices such as blood pressure monitors, smart wireless scales and EKG monitors.

Kelderman explains: “There is a huge market for making it easier to track health and a lot of people are more willing to take care of their own health. We help them by providing these devices.”

As the healthcare industry faces spiralling costs, many have suggested using technology as a tool to move towards a model of preventative, rather than reactive healthcare.

This would mean monitoring people’s health to make sure they do not need treatment, rather than treating them when they get sick.

Kelderman says the proliferation of healthcare devices means people are becoming more open to monitoring their health using technology, and Qardio is working with organisations such as the NHS to make sure the devices can be used in a co-operative and helpful fashion.

“By having a lot more data available around people’s health, in our view that is going to help the whole sector big time,” he says.

Qardio’s target market is people who have conditions that need to be monitored to prevent them requiring treatment, rather than those who are perfectly healthy or those who are already critically ill.

“We focus on people who are not critically ill, but have something where the doctor has said they need to monitor their blood pressure,” says Kelderman.

Data for doctors

Qardio designed its devices to make them easier and more comfortable for patients to use and carry around, but it also built a control panel, called Qardio MD, through which doctors can monitor patients’ data remotely.

“It’s a platform that unlocks all the data from our devices,” says Kelderman. “The doctor can log into that platform and see all the data at once. People and patients don’t have to send the data via email or in other ways – it’s all embedded in the software.”

Qardio MD makes it easy for doctors to interpret large amounts of data for large numbers of patients.

It should save time and money for patients and healthcare services, as patients can take their own readings rather than having to visit a doctor or hospital regularly.

Approved algorithms

Healthcare authority-approved algorithms are used to help doctors interpret the data. Most development work on platforms and algorithms is done by Qardio and certified by third parties.

“Obviously, we have to be very careful because it’s medical data and we are not doctors – we cannot interpret it,” says Kelderman. “Also, the algorithms need to be approved to make sure people can rely on them.

“We also need to make sure the data is stored in the right way. We have to be compliant, and that is what we are focusing on right now for all of our devices.”

Patients are responsible for buying the devices, and the platform is currently free for doctors. However, in the future, use of the MD software may move to a purchase or subscription-based model, which can be supported through NetSuite.