By taking over H-Net, Swisscom Health is acquiring one of the companies in the area of administrative and medical data exchange in the healthcare sector. Swisscom Health is thus strengthening its portfolio and further expanding its eHealth ecosystem in Switzerland.
Over 2,000 doctors, 100 hospitals and insurance companies, and thousands of patients already rely on eHealth solutions from Swisscom Health. With the acquisition of H-Net, Swisscom Health is broadening its customer base, expanding its product portfolio and gaining the valuable expertise of H-Net employees. At the same time, H-Net customers are gaining access to the eHealth ecosystem in Switzerland and to the Evita health record system.
H-Net was founded in 2003 with its headquarters situated in Zurich and the company’s aim is to build solutions for electronic invoicing in the healthcare sector. The company rapidly developed into a data hub for this area. H-Net currently has more than 300 business customers (including university hospitals, radiology and laboratory institutes, the cantons of Basel Land and Basel Stadt, and the Genolier group) and plays a leading role in administrative and medical data exchange throughout Switzerland. With its MedicalConnector and MedicalShare eHealth products, H-Net took a pioneering role in the exchange of medical data. H-Net employs ten people. Michael Ziegler, CEO of H-Net, had the following to say on the merger: “The merger will create a major player in the Swiss healthcare market. Customers of both companies will benefit from the synergy generated from our deep integration in the hospital system on the one hand, and attractive offerings for doctors and consumers on the other.”
The Swisscom Health eHealth ecosystem connects care providers, patients and funding agencies and ensures fast and secure data exchange. Stefano Santinelli, CEO of Swisscom Health, also commented on the merger: “We are building Switzerland’s eHealth infrastructure. This will bring greater efficiency for care providers, better quality of treatment for patients, and save on healthcare costs for Switzerland.” The fact that digital data exchange lowers healthcare costs is also evidenced in a study published by Swisscom last year. Digitising two minor processes, hospital admission and discharge, has alone resulted in cost savings of CHF 120 million per year in Switzerland. The H-Net and Swisscom Health offering makes these savings available to all customers.
