Pan-European medical booking platform Doctena just got a little more pan-European. Already operational in Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland, the company has acquired Germany’s Doxter — which it claims is the number 1 player in Germany.
Terms of the deal remain undisclosed, although I’m told Doxter co-founder Ron Lehnert is staying on and will become CEO of Doctena Germany. This will also see Doxter’s patient portal continue but rebranded as Doctena.de. Doctena Germany mobile apps for Android and iOS will also be rolled out.
“The medical cloud agenda software from Doctena will be distributed to existing and new customers in Germany,” says Doctena CEO Patrick Kersten. “Doxter offers today the largest choice of medical calendars on the same platform in Germany. It is the leading team in all major German cities”.
“More than just country number five, this is a step change moment for us and a clear indication of our ambitions to truly cover Europe and become the first truly pan-European medical booking platform,” he adds.
“Our goal is to be ‘a family of national champions’: an international structure, with a localized service because medical is local, sometimes built by acquiring or merging with established local players. That strategy allows us to enter new markets rapidly”.
To that end, I’m told that every minute a patient creates an account on Doctena, every 30 seconds they book an appointment, and that two out of every three users become repeat patients. However, moving doctor and other medical bookings online isn’t just a win for patients but a big part of Doctena’s mission is to make the lives of doctors and surgery staff easier too.
Advantages for doctors are said to include: reducing no-shows as well as time spent on administrative tasks. “The platform also allows health practitioners to collect data on their patients and practice. This can be used later to provide analytical insights,” explains the company.