German startup doctorly has raised $10 million to help medical practices update their outdated software.
“doctorly’s home market of Germany still heavily relies on software built in the 1980s and lags behind global competitors,” investor WELL said in a Wednesday (March 1, 2023) news release. “Antiquated software and a lack of innovation has led to material inefficiencies.”
The release cites figures from KBV, Germany’s regulator for state practicing doctors, which show that the country’s medical practices spend an average of 61 working days each year on administrative tasks.
The doctorly operating system has helped halve the time practices need to spend on administrative tasks, the release said. It is also the only venture capital backed start up in Germany that has regulatory approval to sell and distribute practice management software.
“Since inception, we have worked very closely with doctors and healthcare professionals to build an operating system that works for them,” said Samir El-Alami, doctorly’s founder and CEO. “Our relationships have enabled us to build a practice management system that is modern, easy to use, secure and connects with other modern technologies.”
While doctorly works to help practices update their systems, patients are increasingly updating the way they pay for medical care.
The findings mark a significant shift from traditional methods of paying for medical care such as in-person and mail-in payments. The study also found that 75% of consumers made at least one payment for a healthcare product or service in the past 12 months, with a growing number of patients opting for digital channels.
“In-person channels may remain the most common way to pay for healthcare expenses, but our research shows that digital patient and health-plan portals are equally preferred. One-quarter of respondents said they favor digital portals above other methods — the same share that chose in-person payments,” the study says.
