Medgate meanwhile operates the largest telemedicine center in Europe. The digital healthcare pioneer from Basel offers both patients and health insurers comprehensive and location-independent around-the-clock medical care. Thanks to consultations via app, telephone, video and chat, unnecessary doctor's visits can be avoided, while maintaining the quality of medical care at a high level.
Great interest in the concept from abroad
In 2014, the Basel-based company ventured into the market in the United Arab Emirates. The Philippines followed in 2016, India in 2017 and Germany in 2020. As Europe's leading telemedicine provider and due to a strongly increased demand for digital health solutions worldwide, it is now time to push ahead with the expansion strategy abroad and open up further markets. Therefore, further locations are planned in the core regions of Europe and Southeast Asia, including Spain, Italy, Austria, Poland, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. To this end, Medgate has already conducted market analyses with S-GE on a number of occasions. As a member of S-GE, Medgate is actively supported in its internationalization and benefits from numerous advantages.
Adapting the concept to local markets
In order to be able to adapt Medgate's concept to local markets, it is necessary to understand the prevailing market conditions exactly and to adapt the services in a country-specific way. In Australia, for instance, snakebites play a significantly bigger role than they do in Switzerland. Or in the Philippines, diseases such as dengue fever or malaria are far more prevalent than they are in Germany. “Understanding local conditions is one of the biggest challenges,” says Paul de La Rochefoucauld, one of Medgate's three managing partners.
Holding structure and local partnerships
For this reason, the international business is managed by the Swiss holding company, under which the country units are structured. This enables greater strategic control, which is particularly necessary in the medical sector to ensure process standardization and high quality. Medgate enters into partnerships both at the shareholder level and at the operational level. In order to gain credibility, sales activities and stakeholder management must be coordinated by local partners and organizations in particular.
“Made in Switzerland” as a seal of excellence
What also provides credibility is the “Made in Switzerland” seal of excellence. Switzerland enjoys a high level of trust abroad. And trust is key in an industry like the healthcare sector.
