The medical software industry market has been expanding exponentially. Even with the onset of the unforgiving pandemic, while most industries took a hit, the medical software market did not experience any negative repercussions. As it happens, healthcare institutions increasingly turned to harness the power of emerging technologies to better facilitate diagnosis, patient information management, and treatment. Cut to 2022, implementing advanced medical software within the healthcare domain is proving to be a game changer.
NEXUS / CHILI, founded in 1997, has done some pioneering work in the teleradiology and telemedicine domain and continues to do so. “NEXUS / CHILI started as a Teleradiology and PACS company and recognised very early that medical images are of interest not only in radiology. Our collective experience and solutions for radiology have been extended into E-Health in general. Not only transferring, reporting, and archiving medical images, but solutions for the exchange of medical data between healthcare enterprises, in general, became very important pillars of our portfolio,” informs Dr. Engelmann Engelmann, CEO of NEXUS/CHILI.
Taking a deep dive into the story behind the company’s inception, Dr. Engelmann tells us how the company started as the commercial successor of the scientific MEDICUS project of the German Cancer Research Center, funded by the prestigious German Telekom. A team of experts designed and implemented a teleradiology system installed in thirteen German hospitals to exchange radiological images between them. The hospitals used the software daily and requested the team at CHILI to take ownership and provide support and further developments.
Meeting and Exceeding Customer Requirements
Achieving customer delight is the key ingredient for success, and having secured that, commercial software under the brand name of CHILI was developed 25 years ago. The start-up company, with three founders and two employees, was one of the first technology transfer projects at the German Cancer Research Center. And it was through this determination and dedication, that the organisation has a strong workforce of 100 experts today, based in Dossenheim, Heidelberg, and two further branches in Frankfurt and Munich. NEXUS / CHILI provides a comprehensive suite of integrated RIS/PACS solutions with strong competence and presence in teleradiology and E-Health. Dr. Engelmann adds, “NEXUS / CHILI is a strong company in the NEXUS group as the competence centre for medical images and E-Health. Together we have the most complete portfolio for hospitals and healthcare in general in Europe.”
The CHILI software is modular and highly configurable. Several customers’ needs can be met without changing the software itself. Described by Dr. Engelmann in a more simplified manner, the software is like a set of LEGO Blocks. The same modules can be used from small teleradiology solutions to large distributed RIS/PACS-Solutions for a hospital network. Thus, the software can grow with the needs of the customer. Additionally, the requirements of customers are carefully collected and evaluated for continuous development for the software release.
NEXUS/CHILI has carved quite the niche in this domain and is one of the leading healthcare companies with the most complete healthcare portfolio in Europe. The organisation proffers solutions connected with medical images and is deeply integrated with the solutions of its group partners. The portal solutions are used to manage medical data in the context of hospital stays and in the delivery of lab results, women’s healthcare, the exchange of patient data concerning rehabilitation measures, and so on.
In Tune with Market Trends
Dr. Engelmann explains that the portals market is currently the most relevant in Germany’s healthcare industry. This sector’s market growth has been accelerated by the funding of the German Ministry of Health by the Germany Hospital Future Law (Krankenhauszukunftsgesetz, KHZG). He says, “Our NEXUS group is in a perfect position with the NEXUS / Portal which is connected with many other NEXUS solutions such as HIS, lab, pathology, women’s health or rehabilitation software.” The company is catering to the strong demand for portals, including medical images, for doctors and medical staff and patients. So five years ago, key stakeholders worked on providing input and taking the company steps toward the future. It was concluded that the organisation becomes a larger entity equipped to cover the entire healthcare market. This resulted in the organisation becoming the competence centre for medical imaging and E-Health of the NEXUS group.
Forging Strong Vendor-Customer Partnerships
With a gamut of healthcare software options available across the globe today, efficiency and speed are two vital elements in ensuring superior customer satisfaction. In two and a half decades of impeccable service, NEXUS / CHILI has worked with a broad spectrum of satisfied clients. The first nationwide networks for the distribution of radiological images were established with CHILI software more than 15 years ago in Chile, Brazil, and Columbia. The organisation established the largest telemedicine network in Germany, TKmed, with more than a thousand communication partners. “Huge teleradiology networks are using our software to support hospitals without radiologists on-site during the night and weekend shifts. Our largest customer reports radiological images of over one hundred hospitals with a team of about 50 radiologists,” proudly reveals Dr. Engelmann.
Driving Employee Engagement
He firmly believes that the organisation’s market presence today can be attributed not only to its bespoke products and services but also to its expert team members. Professional and social employee engagement is encouraged to help drive productivity and creativity within NEXUS / CHILI. The organisation supports employee engagement by making work exciting and conducting social events such as hiking, canoeing, or rock climbing. The entire team also participates in local sports competitions, like running, skating, and rowing. Also, barbecues are held where the whole family is invited and are part of the social company life. Dr. Engelmann adds, “Innovation is stimulated by projects where we explore new avenues with scientific projects funded by regional organisations or by the German Ministry of Research with partners from other industries or the medical domain.”
Into the Future
Continually setting higher standards across Germany and the industry itself, NEXUS/CHILI has successfully joined forces with partners in North and South America. In Asia, the organisation recently started a new cooperation with a renowned healthcare company in Indonesia. This country, with over 270 MIO inhabitants, is currently in the process of implementing digitisation in healthcare. This demands RIS/PACS solutions that can easily be adapted to the local’s needs. These densely populated regions lack experienced radiologists creating a massive opportunity for experts to deliver solutions in teleradiology and E-Health. NEXUS/CHILI intends to spearhead this movement. Dr. Engelmann concludes, “We will continue to listen carefully to the needs of our customers and will provide solutions for their needs. We will not develop something in the ivory tower. Instead, we will provide what the market, medical doctors, medical staff, and patients need. Improving healthcare is our ultimate goal.”
For More info: https://nexus-chili.com/