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4 november 2024

Successful market entry in Germany of Dutch healthcare company

Dutch company Qwiek’s specific aim is to develop products and services that provide care-givers in experience-oriented care with tools to make their job more effective, more rewarding, easier and more fun. The company developed an emotion-oriented care product for the dementia care-market that provides residents of nursing and elderly care homes with an audio-visual experience in their own familiar environment.

The company is looking to work with non-profit healthcare related centres of expertise, associations and knowledge centres that engage in the dissemination and implementation of good practices in the field of dementia-care. By cooperating with these partners and sharing each other’s expertise and insights, the company hopes to get a better understanding of the specific characteristics of dementia-care in the targeted countries. That way the company hopes to improve dementia-care in the targeted countries as they already do in the Netherlands. A relevant partner for this specific tool, Bayern Innovativ in Nuremberg, was found with support of the EEN network.

Martina Schuhmacher established the contact with the PPZ/NürnbergStift, a project in the health innovation network that they have been working with for over 6 years. The PPZ was set up in order to make implementation of novel products and technologies in the care field more available and to introduce innovations into the practical daily routine. By doing so they aim to facilitate day to day work in the care home and so to have more time for the elderly patients. Marlene Klemm, the head of the project at the PPZ, recognised a good opportunity to integrate this tool into the daily routine of the elderly care home.

At the end of 2022, the mobile projector Qwiek.up was used in the four NürnbergStift facilities, Sebastianspital, August-Meier-Heim and the Platnersberg and St. Johannis senior living complexes, for a two-week test phase. In this first test run, the care professionals were enthusiastic.
After the test phase described above, feedback from the four inpatient long-term care facilities was positive, so PPZ/Nuremberg are now moving into a second test phase.

At the end of January 2023, Ms. Kaupp from Qwiek.up handed over two more devices to PPZ/Nuremberg. These are now in use for a second test phase in the facilities of St. Johannis and Platnersberg. During a visit to the PPZ/Nuernberg by the health innovation network and the EEN of Bayern Innovativ, a number of medical products were shown and explained, including the Qwiek mobile projector. The tool is very easy to handle, it is portable and the operating panel is easy to use. It can be equipped with various USB-sticks, including those created by users. This projector was evaluated highly by the elderly people and patients of the PPZ, so it has now become included as standard equipment of the PPZ and is in constant use in the care home. The care home staff clearly recognised a positive effect on the elderly people when using this projector.
After viewing the images projected on to the ceiling or wall, they became calmer, more satisfied and happier, and there was a reduction in their anxiety. This instrument has now been introduced in many other hospitals, care homes and institutions for handicapped people in Germany. One further example is the Clemenshospital in Münster.

Through this collaboration, Qwiek has found a partner in the Baviarian region with which they can exchange expertise and insights to further validate their product and make it suitable for the local German market. This cooperation is about real results that brings advantages for both partners. They are also looking to expand their cooperation in the near future. Bearing in mind that the first steps of this collaboration were taken in 2019, Corona caused this process to take longer than anticipated. Nevertheless, collaboration was begun in 2022and the partnership continues to grow.

Commercial manager Chris Rameckers:
"PPZ is an institution with stature. If they test a product then you immediately gain prestige in the region. This gives you extra exposure, which makes it easier to get into other healthcare institutions. PPZ also actively gives recommendations to other institutions through a kind of brochure. If you are included in this, doors open more easily."

The Dutch EEN partners involved are initially, the Chamber of Commerce and later, LIOF, the regional development agency of the province of Limburg.