In the software world, we really like to go deep into technology: what functionalities are there and how does the underlying architecture work? At CODE24, too, we deal with the technical issues underlying our EHR and its modules on a daily basis - we build, discuss, analyze and learn. But how did the organisation get on this track? Why do we do what we do? The three founders of CODE24, Martin, Alessandro and Sebastian, in addition to having a vision of healthcare technology, also have a clear picture of their common motivation.
From left to right: Sebastian Iancu, Alessandro Torrisi and Martin van der Meer.
Architect Sebastian was surrounded by medics during his college days. Many of his friends were studying medicine and thus wanted to contribute something to society by helping people. Sebastian admired this and eventually saw a role for himself here as a techie: "Programming healthcare IT also has that social benefit. Ultimately, we all become patients one day; healthcare is part of everyone's life. By helping the caregiver with good technology, you indirectly help the patient."
Martin, our Director, also strongly feels the need to help, to contribute something. "That's actually in my genes. I worked in a hospital for 25 years - before that I had looked around at other organisations , but it wasn't until I walked into the hospital that I got that warm feeling."
At that same hospital, he also met Alessandro, our Innovation Manager. For Alessandro entering healthcare was initially not a conscious decision - "but it was a conscious decision to stick around!" So what made him stick around? "On a technical level, they are much further ahead in other sectors - in healthcare there is enormous progress to be made. The sector is very broad, very complex - that makes it both complicated and interesting."
In that breadth and complexity of healthcare, Martin sees the added value of the standardisation of healthcare data. "There are so many different types of care, the mental health, GP care, pharmacists, hospital care, home care ... This ensures that there are also vastly different ways of working, which affects what care data is needed and how it is presented. In addition, healthcare is not an exact science - we are still learning as a human race, there is an enormous amount we do not yet know. There is still a lot in development. The 'traditional' way of automating does not apply to the healthcare industry for those reasons."
The solution Martin, Alessandro and Sebastian see in openEHR, an international standard for storing and exchanging medical data and creating healthcare information models. This standard ensures that the flexibility a complex sector like healthcare needs rests on a stable foundation, so it can benefit from a higher degree of interoperability to accelerate digital transformation. The more healthcare IT is built based on openEHR, the easier it will be to integrate different systems and arrive at a central, modular healthcare system that truly supports the healthcare provider.
"But," Alessandro adds, "in the end, openEHR is not the goal but a means to help the healthcare provider." And that is CODE24's ultimate goal: making healthcare better.
So CODE24 is a organisation built on both a vision of healthcare technology and an ideological driving force. Yet it is also 'just' a business and has to make money in order to run... Doesn't that clash? "Sometimes it does," Martin agrees. "As an organisation, we put a lot of effort into cooperation and actively promote our working method and vision, also to our competitors. This may not always be commercially smart, but we firmly believe that getting as many organisations as possible 'on on our side' is the only way to advance healthcare technologically."
That collaboration is only going to become more important in the future. Whereas CODE24 now focuses primarily on the mental health, building out the foundation based on openEHR means that linking subsystems will only become easier, which will benefit the entire healthcare sector interesting. Martin also thinks the market is ready for it: "The topic of standardisation of healthcare data is a lot more alive now than it was 10 years ago." So we at CODE24 are not running a sprint, but a marathon.
Can you identify with CODE24's objective and are you interested in running that marathon with us? We are always happy to connect with colleagues at healthcare IT companies to collaborate when it makes sense - feel free to email us!
In addition, we have various open positions - do you have a heart for healthcare and a brain for technology? Then take a look at our job openings.