Eurocept Modernizes Patient Processes with Multi-Application Solution

Eurocept is one of the largest providers of home care and specialized home treatments in the Netherlands. With over 250 nurses, the organization operates nationwide to provide nursing services, pharmaceutical distribution, and medical materials.

At the heart of the company’s mission is to provide the best healthcare to end-patients, focusing on supporting nurses and ensuring efficient logistics. However, demand for healthcare in the Netherlands consistently exceeds supply: more people need treatment than there are nurses available.

Eurocept recognized the need to improve processes and free up time for its nurses to treat more patients – but it just didn’t know how to prescribe a solution.

In partnership with CAPE, Eurocept leveraged the Mendix platform to reduce administrative tasks and enable healthcare professionals to spend more time with patients by developing multiple low code applications.

The Acute Need for a Long Lasting Platform

Eurocept’s diagnosis was simple: inefficiency. The company recognized opportunities to improve, but lacked a baseline for measurement.

“During the discovery phase, we needed to identify how much we could improve Eurocept’s planning capabilities,” shared Jacco Wielaard, Lead Consultant at CAPE.

“But, this just drove home the problem: the current manual process operated by individual nurses meant the organization couldn’t quantify its efficiency. If there was ever a case for creating a planning application – this was it,” he said.

Thanks to CAPE’s specialization in transport and logistics planning solutions, supporting Eurocept had natural synergy despite being healthcare-specific.

The company evaluated three development methods before ultimately selecting Mendix: off-the-shelf standard software, high-code and low code application development.

“Standard, off-the-shelf software was too expensive and inflexible,” said Mano Kok, Chief Technical Officer at Eurocept.

Once CAPE shared its portfolio of Mendix solutions, Eurocept realized how a low code planning application could transform its business.

“I was a bit suspicious. How could it be so much cheaper and take just three months to build what we needed? Is this real? How is it possible… but it was. CAPE delivered our Mendix solution in time and within budget,” said Kok.

With an expert implementation partner and clear vision for Mendix, Eurocept began developing customizable solutions at speed, capable of integrating with both existing and new systems of record.

Customizing Medical Treatment Plans

Eurocept and CAPE identified two key areas Mendix could best support the organization: its planning process for nurses and its medical nutrition offering.

Eurocept manages a considerable number of calendars, appointments and individual requests each week. The existing manual processes simply couldn’t manage the volume which often exceeds 2,000 weekly treatments.

Previously, nurses managed their own workloads by booking treatments directly with patients. By individually organizing their schedules, a large amount of day-to-day administration ultimately took vital time away from caring for patients.

“Our existing mobile application on Nedap accounts for 90% of the information we need to record – from patient records, to visits and treatment details – but the remaining 10% is administrative,” Kok shared. “That was the big gap for us.”

The treatment? A centralized planning process with dedicated planners.

In just three months, the application was built and ready for use. Now, just five planners carry out highly specialized planning to map out the day for Eurocept’s network of nurses across the Netherlands.

Not only does this save time and prioritize patient care, but the agenda-view means treatments can be rescheduled with speed and agility – optimizing the process for both healthcare providers and patients alike.

“Simplicity is key in this industry, so having our nurses see exactly where and what they needed to do that day made everything more efficient,” Kok said.

The team used the Data Importer module from the Mendix Marketplace to upload information from Excel from Eurocept’s system of record to the new application, easily integrating with Nedap.

“We needed to leverage as much data as possible, and not duplicate it,” Kok remarked.

With Mendix, Eurocept created a fully customized application specific to its business needs, from the user interface to filters and travel time calculations.

“One of the coolest parts about the application was the integration with AWS for travel time,” Wielaard said. “The ability to transform addresses into coordinates and give an accurate travel time prediction saved us a lot of time.”

“We came up with a solution to estimate travel time based on kilometers between the individual nurse and the appointment – delivering a huge cost saving. Furthermore, a solution to estimate the travel time before asking AWS increased the calculation speed, and delivered a huge cost saving.”

A Personalized Patient Experience

After witnessing the planning application’s success, Eurocept moved onto the next opportunity. The second Mendix project was designed specifically for dieticians, focusing on the delivery of tailored meals based on patients’ dietary requirements – from health issues to surgeries.

Eurocept’s previous process involved patients ordering supplies over the phone based on dieticians’ prescriptions. This required an entire department just for placing orders for medical nutrition drinks, resulting in a significant administrative burden for both patients and call handlers.

In just two months, the team delivered a new solution that enables patients to place orders independently, offering a more personalized experience that simplifies their custom meal planning.

Automated reminders prompt patients to reorder once prescriptions run out, further reducing repetitive administrative tasks for Eurocept employees. Now, supplies reach patients faster, with minimal delays due to the team’s improved efficiency.

Putting Patients and Professionals at the Center

Translating IT solutions into patient care is an ongoing challenge for the industry. The priority from the onset is simplicity, security and accessibility.

To ensure the applications would benefit not only Eurocept, but its customers, CAPE collaborated closely with Eurocept’s healthcare providers and internal departments.

“We asked what their priorities were, any specific features they needed, or goals for future improvements,” Wielaard commented. “By talking with the planners, we identified additional features that would further improve their workflow and patient care.”

By working in two-week sprints, the development team had regular opportunities to demo progress and iterate based on feedback. This approach further improved the project’s efficiency, allowing planners to continue working with the existing system until the application was ready.

Scaling Mendix Across the Oganization

With two applications up and running, Eurocept has other projects in development, including a tool to expand the web shop offering for non-prescription needs like bandages.

The team is also nearly finished building ‘Connect’ – a user portal that connects dieticians and doctors to the medical supplies they need to help their patients. The application integrates across several departments from customer service, to sales, logistics and IT.

In addition, Connect integrates with Eurocept’s ERP systems, allowing it to verify individuals’ insurance information before processing purchases.

Transforming Healthcare with Low code

In a matter of months, Eurocept radically increased its operational efficiency, demonstrating how healthcare organizations can leverage Mendix for the greater good.

“The biggest takeaway from this project is how quickly we were able to offer a solution for Eurocept’s problem,” said Wielaard. “We built something entirely from scratch to fit to their needs with only two consultants, twice a week.”

With several projects on the horizon, Eurocept is changing the face of healthcare provision in the Netherlands for the better – creating meaningful change with technology while keeping people and patients at the heart of everything it does.