ESPOO, Finland—Finnish health tech company Medixine has strengthened its presence in the U.S. market, announcing a deepened technological partnership with Nonin Medical, a manufacturer of wearable and noninvasive medical monitoring devices. With the U.S. market for remote patient monitoring expected to exceed $25 billion by 2028, the collaboration is an important milestone in Medixine’s continued U.S. growth, the company said.
An aging population and pressure to reduce costs are accelerating digitalization in the health sector. Remote patient monitoring has been steadily gaining prevalence as an effective and efficient healthcare solution for common chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, respiratory issues and COPD. It is estimated that chronic diseases account for approximately 86% of the total health care costs in the United States, with similar figures recorded worldwide. These impacts and costs are projected to rise for years to come.
“In deepening our partnership with Nonin Medical, we’re setting ambitious goals together to bring remote digital care’s substantial benefits to both patients and clinicians across the United States," said Lasse Rousi, CEO at Medixine. "The U.S. is an important market for Medixine; demand for remote patient care is high, as there are often vast distances between patients and healthcare providers. Furthermore, it’s especially significant for us that a renowned market leader like Nonin Medical has chosen our remote patient monitoring platform for its first transition from devices into digital services.”
The new partnership is set to combine Medixine’s digital remote patient monitoring software platform with Nonin’s U.S. market-leading pulse oximetry devices. Medixine said the collaboration highlights how integrating physical devices with software-driven solutions has the potential to significantly improve patient comfort, convenience and care quality, while also reducing the burden on overworked clinicians and under-resourced care providers by reducing the number of unnecessary hospital visits.
“At Nonin Medical, we have an extensive background in producing first-class pulse oximetry devices in terms of hardware, including several industry-firsts,” said Aaron Lobbestael, Sr. director of advanced technology at Nonin Medical. “But to unlock their full potential in the world of digital health care, devices need to be paired with an equally reliable and robust software platform; we see Medixine as the perfect fit, and they align with our objectives to deliver the most patient-centric care possible.”
One significant area the collaboration aims to progress is overnight oximetry during sleep, for example, as pre-screening to determine if patients need and qualify for supplemental oxygen. Such sleep screenings can also determine if patients need to be tested further for potential sleep disorders like obstructive sleep apnea. This chronic condition is estimated to affect up to 30 million people in the U.S., with only 6 million of these clinically diagnosed. Left untreated, the condition can lead to an increased risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, stroke and depression.
“Combining physical monitoring devices with Medixine’s digital platform offers huge potential benefits in understanding the need for overnight oxygen,” Lobbestael said. “At present, it may take months to acquire an accurate reading using overnight devices that patients need to take to and from the health care provider multiple times. Our digital solution would require just one night of measurement, which would be downloaded automatically to the patient’s records. By digitizing our health care services, patients can access all the same services they have received previously, but much more easily, while clinicians’ workflows are made significantly more efficient.”
