In 2008, Henning Hedegaard set out to make patients’ lives easier by creating disposable products for hospitals. That’s the year he established GP Medical Devices (GPMD) in Holstebro, Denmark.
Here at GPMD, we specialize in easy-to-use disposable solutions within the field of gastroenterology and digestive system disorders.
You might wonder how we can make patients’ lives easier by creating disposable products for hospitals. Our products can improve your patients’ lives by providing easy to understand, up to date medical solutions. We can improve your life by saving you time and reducing your workload.
Read on to find out more about how GPMD can help you.
GP Medical Devices’ Purpose
GPMD collaborates with you, the healthcare professionals to develop innovative, simple and easy-to-use solutions. We use information we have gathered from patients to design new projects and improve existing products.
Collaborating with professionals and patients is essential to this process. We combine our expertise in product development with your ideas and needs. Together with you, our clients, we design and deliver simple yet novel solutions which help improve people’s quality of life.
We manufacture our kit solutions at several production sites on an ongoing basis, and we are quick to respond to any inquiries from clients.
Our products are easy to understand and have helped clients just like yours all around the world.
The kits are always patented, CE marked, and medically approved. In the United States the kits are registered by the FDA.
Why GP Medical Devices
GP Medical Devices is a small, agile company. There are many reasons why we can respond to your needs quickly and professionally.
- We have many connections with collaborators, partners, and more.
- Our connections with professionals like you allow us to react to change in the industry faster.
- Our connections with key collaborators allow us to have the resources and knowledge to adapt to these changes quickly.
- GPMD’s team is knowledgeable but humble. If we don’t have the answers that you need, we’re willing to find them for you. Our team has access to connections that can help us find what you need.
- Our company may be small, but we are mighty.
There are many benefits to being in this industry with a small business:
- We can focus on your needs better than larger organizations with more clients.
- We can interact with you more often.
- We work harder to keep up with innovations in the industry.
- We are closer to our partners (and as a customer, we consider you a partner).
We embrace the knowledge we gain as we work with you. We value that information and use it to build our product.
We don’t just store that information away.
We learn as we receive feedback from you and we don’t wait to use that information to improve the product.
We adapt quickly and implement improvements easily.
Plus, our team is highly knowledgeable about sales and production. So, we know what you need to make your life easier.
GPMD’s Medical Devices
GP Medical Devices has two main products: the EasySampler and the EasyDrainer. We are mainly known for our disposable stool and urine collector which is the EasySampler.
Read on to learn more about GPMD’s medical devices.
EasySampler
In 2008, Christian Erfurt-Hansen and Morten Sønderholm approached us with an idea for a stool collector. The problem these young entrepreneurs faced was that the only thing they had to work with for their prototype was the local newspaper Jyllands-Posten.
We quickly recognized that to many patients, collecting a stool sample can be awkward. Patients are often provided with only a sample bag, and they do not receive any instructions from their doctor on how to collect the sample.
The first thing our company did was buy a commode and install it in the office. After that, we began cutting and pasting and testing, and the EasySampler was born.
Well, it wasn’t quite that easy. We worked with various medical experts to develop a complete solution for this – often embarrassing – situation.
The EasySampler is a series of medical devices that contain three disposable products (the EU and US versions and the Urine and watery stool collector).
It allows you to collect stool and urine samples.
These products are handmade and made of special paper. All you need to do is position the product on the toilet seat to properly collect the specimen. Then, use the toilet as you normally would.
Special Coating on one side of the paper ensures that it can stay in place for 6-8 minutes after contact with stool/urine. This means that you can follow the user-friendly guide and collect the sample at your leisure.
Flushing the easily soluble paper down the toilet is a quick and easy process. The paper begins to dissolve just 60 seconds after it touches the water.
The special paper used to create the EasySampler has passed flushing and biodegradability tests that certify the reliability of all the models in the EasySampler series.
The EasySampler kit solutions are medically approved, and CE marked under In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Device Regulation 2017/746, class A.
EasySampler Overseas
It turned out that the EU model of the EasySampler was not working as well in the American market. After completing some research, we figured out what the problem was.
American toilets have a higher water level which was causing the paper to break down too soon.
A redesigned US version was created. This one was particularly suited just for toilets with high water levels.
In 2010, one of the world’s leading researchers on intestinal diseases, Arne Røseth, visited one of the USA’s leading suppliers of laboratory products. Here, he presented our product – the EasySampler. That Company was thrilled with the new model and today they are one of our biggest customers.
The American version of the EasySampler is registered with the FDA.
EasyDrainer
The EasyDrainer is a medical device for those with ileostomies. It is a disposable sleeve that can help users empty their ileostomy bags.
You will find that the EasyDrainer is also easy to use.
Despite its simplicity this device has many advantages:
- It prevents splashing as you drain the ileostomy
- It protects your clothes from splatter
- It is flushable – so you can easily dispose of it when you’re done emptying your ostomy bag (no waste to dispose of so there is no mess left behind)
- It reduces the noise created when you empty the ostomy bag. When you consider that you need to empty an ostomy bag five to seven times a day, it is very likely that you would need to drain your bag outside the home – emphasizing the need for a quiet process to preserve your privacy and dignity.
- You can take the EasyDrainer with you because it is so small you can hide it in your pocket or bag. It is virtually invisible to those around you.
To use this product, you just have to put the top to your ostomy bag and let the bottom hang in the toilet. Then, you can empty the bag into the sleeve. The product will go through the sleeve and into the toilet.
EasyDrainer is medically approved and CE-marked under Medical Devices Directive 93/42 EEC class 1.
Accessibility
Although our clients are mainly medical professionals, the end-users are the patients. At GP Medical Devices, we make certain that our clients have products that are simple to use.
As the medical professional you can be assured that your patients will successfully use the EasyDrainer and the EasySampler.
By providing the patients with step-by-step detailed kit instructions, you can save time explaining the procedures to the patients. This method also increases the percentage of accurately collected samples for analysis at the laboratories.
Since 2014, we have been supplying these kits to the Departments of Routine Screenings in Denmark. These departments then dispatch kits to conduct intestinal cancer screenings. Since 2018, citizens between 50 and 74 years of age in Denmark can receive colon cancer screening kits every two years.
Special Solutions
We built our kit solutions on the knowledge and expertise of the medical professionals we work together with – and combined it with our own experience within the field of materials and production setup.
We strive to bring our clients excellence.
We like to implement the use of customized special solutions.
It may be anything – from customized instructions to customizing a specific kit and developing brand new products to suit the needs of our clients. No tasks are too small, and none are too large.
GP Medical Devices Project Management
Nobody can be an expert in everything, so we team up with people who are experts within their own specialized fields and build on their knowledge to develop the best solutions.
In this process, you are also an expert, and we need your input. Your concept for a medical device is always valued.
We would be happy to take on the role of project manager for new ideas you would like to propose.
Collaborating with you ensures that we collect important knowledge. This knowledge will lead us to develop products that are accessible and innovative.
GP medical devices will turn your idea into a final solution ready for the market. We can assist you in a variety of ways, such as customizing a kit or helping you find a specific solution to a problem.
Let’s Work Together
GP Medical Devices is a company that prioritizes you, our clients. We are a small and active company which focus on close and long-lasting collaborations with you.
Our company’s small size makes us very agile and quick to respond – and our extensive professional network ensures that we have access to various production facilities and specialized knowledge.
Feel free to get in touch with us. Let us know how we can help you with your next concept for a medical device. When it comes to developing easy-to-use and intuitive medical devices, collaboration is fundamental.
If you would like to talk about a device concept, or request a custom solution, contact us to arrange a meeting.
We at GP Medical Devices look forward to developing the solution optimal for your needs!