Amsterdam-based Siilo, an instant messaging app designed just like WhatsApp for healthcare professionals, announced that it has raised €4.5 million of funding recently. The round led by EQT Ventures.The funding will be used to scale-up the app’s user base across Europe, especially in the UK and Germany. But how reliable is it? Will it lead to an invasion of privacy?
The foundation and aim
Siilo was founded in 2015 with the goal of creating a platform for healthcare professionals to practice medicine together in a secure and quick way, and eliminate out-dated forms of communication, such as fax, pages and landlines. The problem with the out-dated forms of communication, it often results in key patient data being siloed and valuable time is wasted trying to get access to the right information.
What about privacy
One of the issues which can concern the users is the possibility that personal data could be leaked out in the public. Imagine a member of the Royal family or a high-profile individual having his/her medical conditioned and history leaked – this could lead to many problems.
However, Siilo assures that the app itself isn’t designed for the sharing of sensitive data and present significant compliance risks, as well as the possibility of fines for organisations and individuals under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The personal and professional data are separated, with patient information and related discussions stored in a secure encrypted vault created by Siilo. The content isn’t automatically backed-up to the cloud and synced across multiple devices and the messages will be deleted in 30 days unless the healthcare professional requests it.
Siilo – How does it work?
The app ensures medical teams can better manage their workflow, securely collaborate on patients’ treatments and discuss challenging cases with their peers. As well as having instant, direct access to colleagues working in their organisation, doctors can also tap into a broader network of expertise by searching Siilo’s verified user base.
Siilo has achieved level 3 status assessed as a NHS Business Partner organisation type as defined by the NHS, which is the NHS’ highest level of Information Government compliance. With more 7.5 million messages processed per month and more than 100,000 users in renowned institutions such as St. George’s Hospital, London, and Charité Berlin, Germany, Siilo is already Europe’s largest secure messenger for healthcare.
Organic adoption has also occurred in smaller home healthcare teams in California, US, and entire transplantation teams from Astana, Kazakhstan. “Having worked in the trenches as a surgery resident, I’ve experienced the challenges that healthcare professionals face firsthand,” said Joost Bruggeman, CEO and cofounder, Siilo.
“With Siilo, we’re connecting all healthcare professionals to make them more efficient, enable them to share patient information securely and continue learning and share their knowledge. The directory of vetted healthcare professionals helps ensure they’re successful teamplayers within a wider healthcare network that takes care of the same patient.”
“At Siilo, we coin this phenomenon ‘network medicine’, which is in contrast to the current oldfashioned, siloed medicine. The goal is to improve patient care overall, and patients have a network of doctors providing input into their treatment. Together with EQT Ventures, and the team’s knowledge of scaling businesses, we’re looking forward to moving the world of healthcare into the era of ‘network medicine,” Bruggeman concluded.
“The EQT Ventures team was impressed with Siilo’s vision of creating a secure global network of healthcare professionals and the organic traction it has already achieved thanks to the team’s focus on building a product that’s easy to use,” said Ashley Lundström, venture lead and investment advisor to EQT Ventures. “The healthcare industry has long been stuck using jurassic technologies and Siilo’s realtime messaging app can significantly improve efficiency and patient care without putting patients’ data at risk.”
Siilo’s secure messaging application is free for medical team players. Siilo Connect is the company’s subscription service for organisations and professional associations, providing extensive management, administration, networking and software integration tools.
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