The Asklepios Kliniken Group has taken over the Dutch e-health provider Minddistrict. The company is already market leader in this sector in Europe with a strong foothold in the Netherlands and a well-established position in the United Kingdom. Asklepios’ goal is to turn Minddistrict into the market leader in Germany, too. The aim is to improve the care of mental health service users. As a white label provider, Minddistrict’s web-based platform is aimed at all clinics and outpatient facilities in Europe. Practising psychologists and psychotherapists wishing to complement their therapeutic approaches digitally with the aid of individually adaptable modules will be helped greatly. The ambitions of both companies are clear: “The aim is to increase personalised access to care, all across Europe.”
“Asklepios is increasingly covering the preventive treatment and aftercare of clients with mental health issues as part of its digitisation strategy. At the same time, our Group is growing along the entire value added chain in taking over established providers from the field of e-mental health such as Minddistrict now or recently EAP providers such as Talingo and INSITE”, says Kai Hankeln, CEO of the Asklepios Kliniken Group. “With its market leadership in the Netherlands, Minddistrict is an initial step for future expansion abroad in the digital field.”
Asklepios recently took over the Dutch software manufacturer Minddistrict after successfully using its online therapy based on different modules in seven Group clinics. The plan now is to introduce it in all mental health facilities of this clinic group that operates across Germany. This means that Minddistrict will in future be offered in all inpatient, day care clinics and outpatient Asklepios facilities.
Dr. Mark Willems, founder and CEO of Minddistrict, sees the further development and expansion of Minddistrict as greatly significant for the market, offering service users and therapists many opportunities and benefits: “We will have to face up to increasingly difficult challenges in the health sector in the coming years. A growing number of clients will have to be given high-quality treatments while costs remain stable. There will also be a paradigm shift away from traditional treatments towards integrated, patient-driven care focusing on prevention and reaching the beneficiaries on the go in their everyday lives. Minddistrict will help Asklepios to master these challenges and in the process strengthen the autonomy and self-effectiveness of users.” As a white label provider, Minddistrict is helping other numerous mental health and wellbeing providers besides Asklepios with digital transformation in the field of mental health prevention and therapy. “This will remain the case in the future as many health facilities have recognised the benefits of digitally supported treatments. Now that the efficacy of evidence-based e-mental health products has been demonstrated many times in studies in the last few years, digital health products are becoming increasingly relevant both in the inpatient and outpatient sector for closing gaps in the care available and raising the quality of treatment”, Dr Mark Willems explains.
The advantages of Minddistrict
In many Asklepios clinics, clients with depression, anxiety disorders, chronic pain, stress from work or sleep disorders can already take advantage of online solutions as part of their treatment. With Minddistrict’s web-based platform and app, clients can work on their treatment in their own time at home on their PC, or on the road on their mobile device with no extra charge to pay. Clients can use the evidence based online interventions to achieve recovery, try out new techniques to use in their everyday lives or keep a digital diary. This process can be supported by a therapist or it can be performed independently for the purpose of prevention, aftercare or behavioural change. The aim of using the online platform and the modules is to empower clients to work on their recovery at their own pace and to lower their risk of a relapse.
“For many clients, the new evidence-based online offering shortens the waiting time for a therapy slot with inpatient or outpatient treatment. The therapists are relieved of the burden of performing routine tasks and can make better use of their valuable time for in-depth conversations with their clients. The software offers an advantage for the entire inpatient and outpatient market in the field of psychiatry as it enables separate content to be developed for the Minddistrict modules via a special tool which is then perfectly in attuned to the particular treatment process concerned”, explains Kai Hankeln, CEO of Asklepios.
About Asklepios
Asklepios Kliniken GmbH & Co. KGaA is one of the largest operators of private clinics and healthcare facilities in Germany. The clinic group stands for the highly qualified care of their patients with a clear commitment to medical quality, innovation and social responsibility. Asklepios has seen dynamic growth on this basis since it was founded more than 30 years ago. The Group now has around 160 health facilities throughout the country. They include acute clinics on all levels of care, specialist clinics, psychiatric and forensic facilities, rehab clinics, care homes and medical care centres. 2.3 million patients were treated in Asklepios Group facilities in the 2017 financial year. The company employs more than 47,000 staff. www.asklepios.com