Australian medical imaging company ImExHS (ASX: IME) has signed a non-exclusive distribution agreement with Brazil’s WEBSiS Tecnologia & Sistemas for its Hiruko radiology software platform.
The agreement will mark ImExHS’ entry into Brazil’s healthcare market, building on its strong presence in Latin America where it has become a prominent Software as a Service (SaaS) provider since its launch in 2012.
The company offers flexible and scalable imaging services via the Hiruko suite of solutions for next generation picture archiving and communications systems and integrated radiology imaging systems.
Hiruko is cloud-based, vendor neutral and has zero footprint with no need for installed software.
The WEBSiS agreement can be renewed annually and is consistent with ImExHS’s other distribution agreements in South America.
Low-risk strategy
Chief sales officer Andres Vanegas said it reflects the company’s low-risk strategy of working with experienced distributors to spearhead entry into new markets.
“This [agreement] represents an excellent opportunity for us to assess the Brazilian market with a local distributor experienced in selling into the public and healthcare sectors,” he said.
“WEBSiS has more than 20 years’ experience delivering software-based projects to the Brazilian government and we look forward to working together to develop our opportunity set and appropriate solutions for this significant market.”
Digitising healthcare
Research has shown that of the 6,700 hospitals in Brazil, 70% are private yet only 25% of the population has access to private healthcare.
The remainder of the country – approximately 150 million people – have access to the public system.
To address the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases and a rising demand for better healthcare services, Brazil’s Ministry of Health recently prioritised the digitalisation of its Unified Health System – a landmark reform introduced in 1988 to bring health coverage to the masses.
“With over [half of Brazil’s] hospitals found in five states – and due to the country’s large land area – the public healthcare infrastructure relies on a vast network of small hospitals,” Mr Vanegas said.
“These circumstances are well suited for us as we can deliver lower cost, innovative, cloud-based systems which can serve multi-site operators.”
At mid-morning, shares in ImExHS were 11.43% higher at $0.039.
