Health economics

The primarily goal for healthcare systems is to improve health. However, most healthcare institutions operate with annual budgets that focus primarily on larger patient groups than those requiring continence care. This increases the risk that people requiring continence care have to settle for low-cost interventions.

The total cost of treatment

The cost of continence care includes not just the unit cost of given products, but also the cost of health complication over time. This makes it critical to look at total cost of treatment, in order to provide the best product within a given certain budget range.

In the field of continence care, Coloplast creates value by reducing the number of complications – meaning fewer hospitalisations, lower overall medical costs as well as better quality of life for patients.

People with continence problems and healthcare professionals still face significant challenges every day. To solve them, we work closely with both groups of people to find better solutions.
 

User-driven innovation

To understand the daily routines and challenges people with a catheter, leg bag, urisheat or irrigation system face, our R&D staff visit them and follow their daily activities and routines closely. This process helps us to understand their challenges and translate their needs into effective solutions. 

To encourage more people to provide input, we also support the online innovation community www.innovationbyyou.com. In this community, people share ideas or join the Innovation Challenges forum, where passionate end users and entrepreneurs co-develop new solutions.
 

Listening and responding since 1954

Working closely with healthcare professionals and the people who use our products is nothing new at Coloplast. In fact, the way we work today started in 1954. Elise Sørensen was a community nurse. Her sister Thora had just had a stoma operation and was afraid to go out, fearing that her stoma might leak in public. So Elise created the world’s first adhesive stoma bag, giving Thora – and thousands of people like her – the chance to enjoy life again. A simple solution with great significance.