Published: 03 January 2024
Text: Veronica Søum, NewsLab AS
Photo: Angelique Culvin-Riccot
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What began with two guys, big ideas, sketches, and a lot of courage at a small desk in Startuplab in 2016 has grown into one of Norway's leading e-health companies. Today, Diffia is among the largest companies in Oslo Science Park, with its 25 employees having moved up to the third floor.
"We usually joke that the next step for Oslo Science Park is to build another floor where we can have offices for 200 employees. In any case, we still want to be part of the park," says Marketing Manager Vetle Slagsvold Støre at Diffia.
Founders Soheil Dabestani and Petter Risøe, along with the rest of the Diffia team, have developed the app and platform Nimble. It provides mobile digital tools to the healthcare sector, aiming to improve and simplify the daily lives of healthcare professionals and patients.
Through Nimble, patients receive better digital follow-up, while hospitals experience service improvements through new and more efficient patient pathways.
"Soheil and Petter had experience from the healthcare sector, and an interest and knowledge of technology and design. They saw significant potential for improvement in making life easier for staff and patients," says Slagsvold Støre.
The healthcare sector lags behind in the digitization process, and technological possibilities taken for granted in many other industries—such as communication via chat and collaborative document work—have long been a utopia.
At the same time, the challenges in the healthcare sector are only growing. With an aging population, increased health challenges, and larger groups of patients with chronic conditions, increased efficiency and resource liberation are crucial.
Innovating in the healthcare sector is not easy. In the beginning, the founders of Diffia received clear feedback that if they were to deliver digital solutions to hospitals, they had to be prepared for an uphill battle.
"You can theoretically create an app for consumers, upload it to the app store, market it, and then it grows on its own. To grow into hospitals, there are enormous demands and obstacles you have to overcome. Requirements for information security, privacy, regulatory certifications, public procurements, large systems, and traditional suppliers have traditionally made access difficult for new and innovative companies."
Diffia has worked closely with Sunnaas Hospital and Østfold Hospital, benefiting from being in the clinics, developing together with hospital staff, and adapting to their needs.
Nimble is a solution for digital home monitoring and digital patient pathways, allowing patients to avoid unnecessary trips to the hospital. At the same time, healthcare professionals can provide follow-up and collaboration in a secure manner.
"Follow-up for diabetes patients has traditionally been to come to the hospital twice a year. But a large proportion of patients don't need to come in so often. They can instead stay at home with digital follow-up, while patients who need to come in more frequently can do so. It is user- and needs-driven," explains Slagsvold Støre.
Diffia is experiencing strong growth. Currently, 1200 patients at Østfold Hospital are under home monitoring and digital outpatient care using Nimble, with the number increasing by up to 30 percent per month. Nimble is also in use at Vestre Viken, Sunnaas, and Vestfold Hospital.
The goal is to eventually expand to more hospitals and, hopefully, internationally.
"The fact that we have entered the healthcare sector is due to the stamina of the founders and the knowledge and perseverance they have, despite many barriers along the way. In addition, we have good investors who understand that this is essential for the healthcare industry and that it takes time. We have also received help from support mechanisms like Innovation Norway, and, not least, forward-thinking individuals in health enterprises who dared to invest in new ideas and innovation."
The marketing manager emphasizes how important Oslo Science Park is for Diffia and praises the creative environment.
"You can spar with those who are smaller and get advice from those who are larger. The fact that there are people, activities, and things happening in the building contributes to the feeling that even though the office is quite empty on certain days, there are still many people to meet."
– En app for forbrukere kan du i teorien bare lage, legge ut i appstore, markedsføre og så vokser den av seg selv. For å vokse inn i sykehus er det enormt mange krav og hindre du må komme deg forbi. Krav til informasjonssikkerhet, personvern, regulatoriske sertifiseringer, offentlige anskaffelser, store systemer og leverandører har tradisjonelt sett gjort tilgangen vanskelig for nye og innovative selskap.
Diffia har jobbet tett med Sunnaas sykehus og Sykehuset Østfold, og har hatt god nytte av å være ute i klinikken og utvikle sammen med sykehuspersonell og tilrettelegge for deres behov.
Nimble er en løsning for digital hjemmeoppfølging og digitale pasientforløp, slik at pasienter slipper å reise unødvendig fram og tilbake til sykehuset. Samtidig kan helsepersonell ha oppfølging og samhandling på en trygg måte.
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– Oppfølgingen for diabetespasienter har tradisjonelt vært å komme til sykehuset to ganger i året. Men en stor andel av pasientene trenger ikke å komme inn så ofte. Da kan de heller være hjemme med digital oppfølging, mens pasienter som trenger å komme inn oftere kan gjøre det. Det er bruker- og behovsstyrt, forklarer Slagsvold Støre.
Diffia er i sterk vekst. Nå er 1200 pasienter ved Sykehuset Østfold under hjemmeoppfølging og digital poliklinikk ved bruk av Nimble, og tallet øker med opptil 30 prosent i måneden. Nimble er også i bruk ved Vestre Viken, Sunnaas og Sykehuset i Vestfold.
Målet er å etter hvert utvide til flere sykehus, og forhåpentligvis også i utlandet.
– Det at vi har kommet på innsiden av helsevesenet skyldes stamina hos gründerne og den kunnskapen og utholdenheten de har, til tross for mange barrierer langs veien. I tillegg har vi gode investorer som skjønner at dette er essensielt for helsenæringen, og at det tar tid. Vi har også fått hjelp fra virkemiddelapparatet, som Innovasjon Norge, og ikke minst fremoverlente mennesker i helseforetakene som har turt å satse på nye ideer og ny innovasjon.
Markedssjefen fremhever hvor viktig Forskningsparken er for Diffia og skryter av det kreative miljøet.
– Du kan sparre med de som er mindre, og få råd av de som er større. At det er mennesker, aktiviteter og ting som skjer i bygget, bidrar til at selv om det visse dager er ganske tomt på kontoret, er det mange å møte likevel.
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