CEO comments
The positive development that we have seen in recent quarters has also continued during the second quarter of 2018. We have both good growth and good results. Of course, we continue to have many challenges but the difference compared to a year ago is a greater focus on results in the Group and a better cost structure.
In the Nordic Region development continues due to expansion, shorter care times, new managers and closer collaboration with those referring patients to us. GHP Spine Center Göteborg is being expanded during this summer which will give us significantly higher inpatient capacity in Gothenburg. We have worked on shortening care times for our prosthetic patients in Stockholm and Gothenburg for a fairly long period of time. This has led to us mainly employing 24-hour care for this group of patients and this is what enables increased efficiency and activity. During the quarter we have also carried out changes in management at a couple of clinics with a view to strengthening local management and commitment. Finally, we have conducted several activities to strengthen our collaboration with referring physicians.
In International development of our SKMCA hospital group continues. The trauma units in particular are growing fast and now take on serious trauma cases at the same level as the largest hospitals in Sweden and United Arab Emirates at the same time as we have been able to considerably raise the medical quality. We have new collaboration in the region with Skåne Care, Region Skåne's international arm, with a view to working together to find new business. By combining our competencies, Skåne Care with all of Skåne's university hospital care and us with our leading clinics and business operations in place in the region, we are able to take other types of project than what each party can on its own.
On 1 July we started up the new collaboration with Trygg Hansa in Vårdsamverkan. This means that the collaboration is now worth approximately SEK 100 million on an annual basis and that we can reach such a size that we can truly develop the business. At the moment we have a pilot scheme together with the company Doctrin where we are developing our digital access to health care and we will gain very detailed knowledge of each patient's condition. This knowledge means that we can save time in the health care we provide in the future, but above all we can combine our knowledge with the data in our other systems. This means that we can conduct continuous development work where we become a little better the whole time at optimising individual patients' care. Over time this will add up to considerable improvements in efficiency and quality. Combining different digital tools for a seamless passage through health care for the patient is one of the parts that makes Vårdsamverkan unique and is something that is only possible with this sort of closer collaboration with the customers. We are now developing these digital tools and despite these strategically important initiatives we are able to uphold the group's positive development of the result. One important aspect is that Vårdsamverkan buys care from our clinics at market rates so the greatest profit from the business model is so far in the Nordic Region segment.
We look forward to an exciting autumn where it is a matter of continuing to develop the Nordic business through controlled expansion and many small improvements. In Vårdsamverkan and International we see that we will take large steps in our development: for Vårdsamverkan in the products offered and in International we are working on several exciting projects.
13 July 2018
Gothenburg
GHP Specialty Care AB (publ)
The Board