DSIH, WEDNESDAY 02 NOVEMBER 2022
Softway Medical, publisher, host and integrator, has conquered the French market with its Hospital Manager solution, which forms the basis of a complete information system. Jean-Baptiste Franceschini, its marketing and communication director, illustrates the strengths of the company.
DSIH: Several GHTs recently announced that they have chosen your Hospital Manager solution. How to explain this success?
Jean-Baptiste Franceschini : 19 GHT have already chosen us; a 20th, the Douaisis GHT, has just joined us and we are in very advanced negotiations with 3 other Groups. There were about thirty calls for tenders from GHT, so it’s good value. We are also very present in ESPICS and in the private sector with a market share of over 50%. Our solution is very popular there because it covers the administrative, financial and medical parts, becoming the most used PPE in France in the field of health.
This success comes mainly from the technological choices we have made for our developments (in particular Java and J2EE) and from constantly questioning our technical models, for example in terms of hosting health data. We have our own racks and servers in different data centers, which our teams manage from A to Z. When possible, we also provide the telecommunications part. This allows us to sell an end-to-end service, from the data center to the user’s site.
Another decisive choice, we are progressively moving our solutions to microservice mode, which allows us to free ourselves from the application core to isolate certain features. We can thus move them to other data centers to benefit from higher levels of computing power, for example to respond to the growing number of users who need to access data.
DSIH: These users include more and more patients. Is this technical progress a response to the needs of digital Ségur?
JB. Franciscans : Partly. The Ségur is an important topic – it employs more than 200 of our employees in four corridors, radiology, private clinics, public hospitals and city medicine – with application problems, but also interoperability and connections with all stakeholders in the care path.
What really sets us apart is the way we design our solutions. We work a lot in UX design, involving clients very early in the design cycle to be as close to their needs as possible, which is greatly appreciated.
On the distribution side, we have the distinction of being a publisher, integrator and host at the same time. We therefore have the ability to deliver
a complete offer and to “repair” the software. Our approach is not to sell a license and its implementation by letting our customers take responsibility for the availability rate of the application. We are committed to providing it with functionality and ensuring its operation.
DSIH: How do you manage your growth in terms of human resources?
JB. Franceschini: We went from 500 to 800 employees in less than five years and opened 188 positions in 2022, of which around 60 remain to be filled. These are very popular profiles. We are therefore carrying out a process of identifying profiles: we have partnerships with a dozen seduction engineering schools, with a strong Employer Brand, and training, thanks to our Softway medical school. Our recruits benefit from courses and a tutor to gradually acquire skills and responsibilities.
DSIH: You have just announced a partnership with SBIM to offer an IPR on the Belgian and Luxembourg markets. Is international a new goal?
JB. Franciscans : Belgium and Luxembourg offer very interesting prospects. We believe that an alliance with a local partner like SBIM, both geographically close, with real expertise in our businesses and a strong service culture, will be a very valuable asset to our mutual customers. Our Quebec business has also started well and this reinforces our desire to pursue our international development.
However, there are still many opportunities in France, as many GHTs will continue to renew their information system in the coming years. We are convinced that there is room for a French leader who can support actors in providing care in the face of the great challenges of digital health.
