Because Health Can Be Smart
Interview with Lukas Eicher, CEO of Nelly Solutions GmbH
The integration of digital technology into nearly all areas of society is a fact. Doctor's offices are also becoming smarter. At the forefront is modern, technology-supported medical care that offers benefits to both patients and medical professionals. Nelly Solutions GmbH from Berlin aims to do just that - less administration, more time for patients.
Wirtschaftsforum: Mr. Eicher, Nelly Solutions GmbH is a successful FinTech company that focuses on the digitization of medical practices and is growing rapidly. How did this come about?
Lukas Eicher: As a co-founder of Nelly, I look back on over ten years of professional experience in FinTech companies. In my early 20s, I founded a company that was acquired by Klarna and became the first German Bank Ident. After several years in consulting in Germany and Switzerland, I founded Nelly four years ago, during the pandemic, with four friends. We wanted to automate and optimize manual processes, especially administrative and financial ones, to improve the daily work of professionals in the healthcare industry. This would allow them to focus again on medical issues and patient care. Initially, the idea was to outsource the billing and factoring of medical practices. For this, we traveled extensively in Germany and spoke with potential customers. We noticed that practices still work with a lot of paper even today. When visiting a practice, patients usually receive a clipboard at the registration desk for all necessary information. Our goal was to make this analog clipboard smart. The time was ripe for it. Due to Corona, even older people had become accustomed to using QR codes and online forms. Patients could enter their details via their own smartphone, using a QR code in the practice or at home.
Wirtschaftsforum: Nelly has revolutionized the area of patient admission. What happened next?
Lukas Eicher: A crucial step for Nelly's development was the focus on financial products aiming to become the Financial Operating System for the Healthcare Market. Our goal is to depict the digital patient journey from start to finish while integrating financial products to provide advantages to patients.
When I start a treatment and digitally sign a cost plan, I have not only medical questions about the treatment but also questions about how I can afford it. For instance, we offer interest-free installment payments; in the future, it will be possible to take out additional insurance. This way, optimal financing should be ensured. This aspect of financing is missing in the health industry. What is important to us in the solutions is the connectivity. Many practices operate with outdated software; with very well-functioning interfaces, we want to create added value here.
Wirtschaftsforum: Thus, Nelly has transformed from a HealthTech to a FinTech company. How far has Nelly come today in the digital patient journey?
Lukas Eicher: We have replaced the analog clipboard and digitized patient admission. There is a tool for digitally signing treatment documents, documents can be uploaded easily and securely online, there are information sheets, after a treatment Google reviews can be submitted. Furthermore, we are working on partnerships for appointment bookings and offering dental supplementary insurances.
Wirtschaftsforum: What role does AI play in it?
Lukas Eicher: We use artificial intelligence where it makes sense, and are currently working on two major topics: a comprehensive agent for billing, a sort of transcription tool, and the automatic creation of billing codes, which we buy as invoices and take care of, for example, when insurance companies are unwilling to pay. There are various functionalities of automatic reminders. It can be a chatbot or a form through which one is guided.
Wirtschaftsforum: The digitalization of healthcare is a highly current topic, a special market with big competitors. How was Nelly able to establish itself so successfully?
Lukas Eicher: Our strength is that we are very close to our customers and offer products that solve problems. Moreover, we have very intuitively placed our bets on the strategy of 'Software as a service' and integrated financial products with added value.
Wirtschaftsforum: Nelly currently has 125 employees and continues to grow. Where is the journey headed?
Lukas Eicher: An important goal is internationalization. In addition to the core markets of Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, we are active in Italy and are just starting with Spain. We want to continue this development to become a European Champion, a multi-billion company and to have a sustainable, positive effect on the health industry. With our solutions, we want to counteract the shortage of skilled workers and simplify bureaucracy – for the benefit of patients.