Our customers in Russia and abroad are mature, demanding, and driven to implement innovations

Russian healthcare is entering a phase of mature digitalization: the focus is shifting toward end-to-end digital platforms that unite the public and private sectors, automate routine processes, improve data quality, and create the foundation for AI services that significantly enhance the experience of patients, doctors, and healthcare managers. Healthcare software developers must adapt to these new realities and evolve their products in line with current trends. We spoke with Igor Bashkov, CEO of Netrika Medicine, about how the company addressed these challenges in 2025.

What trends in healthcare digitalization shaped the activities of Netrika Medicine in 2025?

First, 2025 was marked by the widespread introduction of the national messenger Max. This also affected healthcare: functions such as doctor appointment scheduling, telemedicine consultations, and digital signing of informed consent forms by patients are now implemented through the messenger.

This trend will only strengthen, as our clients must comply with regulatory requirements and achieve the necessary performance indicators. Therefore, we integrated the Max messenger into our products and launched projects to connect our clients to it. Some of these projects are currently being implemented in pilot mode, while others have already entered full-scale operation.

Second, as we predicted, the trend of introducing AI technologies in healthcare is shifting from the analysis of medical images to the analysis of structured electronic medical documents (SEMD). We developed the N3.AI platform and have already gained product experience demonstrating how intelligent tools benefit patients as well as regional medical information and analytical centers and healthcare authorities, simplifying monitoring and control mechanisms.

For example, these tools can accelerate the process of scheduling doctor appointments and automate the creation of reports and analytical selections in a convenient format using natural language queries. We are also moving toward the creation of a full clinical decision support system (CDSS) based on artificial intelligence.

Another key trend is the closer interaction between the public and private healthcare sectors. Together with our partner company ElNetMed, we are implementing a unique solution that allows commercial clinics and pharmacy chains to exchange various types of data with public medical organizations, such as prescriptions and laboratory test results.

Currently, more than 9,500 commercial medical organizations from 85 regions of Russia transmit data to the Unified State Health Information System (EGISZ) through the N3.Health platform.

In the Zabaykalsky Territory, a free mobile application for patients called Mila has been introduced. It aggregates data from both public and private medical institutions. Through this application, patients gain access to their unified medical record and can share it with their treating physician when necessary. This represents a strong competitive advantage for us.

Which projects implemented last year were the most significant for the company?

Among the most important regional projects was the completion of work on the “Health of Petersburg” portal. Overall, in every region where the N3.Healthcare platform has been implemented, its support and improvement continued in one way or another.

All our customers note the growth in the competence of our teams, their ability to handle complex tasks, and their delivery of high-quality results. We achieved this through the development of a new strategy aimed at the company’s growth and transformation.

To support this process, we are working to create comfortable conditions for employees so that everyone can perform their tasks efficiently and effectively. Today we are ready to undertake projects of any level of complexity.

There is a lot of discussion today about the export potential of Russian digital solutions. Is this relevant for you?

Absolutely. One example is our cooperation with the Republic of Belarus. In 2025 we implemented the second large-scale national healthcare project there.

The first stage involved adapting the N3.Master Data Management component for the centralized information system. The new project is a logical continuation of our partnership.

In addition to Belarus, we are negotiating with partners from Asia, Africa, and Latin America, including medical, pharmaceutical, and insurance companies. Russian developers are valued for their professionalism and high standards of data security.

How does the international experience of healthcare digitalization differ from the Russian one?

The similarity lies in the fact that our customers both in Russia and abroad are mature, demanding, and eager to implement innovations. They understand what results they want to achieve and how to achieve them.

Of course, this creates additional pressure on us, increases the level of complexity and responsibility, and requires overcoming challenges. It is sometimes difficult, but we rely on the company’s values, support each other, and grow stronger through the implementation of complex projects.

The difference between customers lies mainly in approaches and technologies. For example, in Belarus the architecture of the unified healthcare system is modular like the Russian EGISZ, but it uses the FHIR standard instead of HL7 CDA.

Therefore, when promoting our platform internationally, we ensure that it supports various standards and technological approaches.

What modern technologies help you create more advanced products?

Artificial intelligence is increasingly penetrating healthcare processes. In particular, the Ministry of Health of Russia initiated the sectoral incident No. 11, “Implementation of Artificial Intelligence Technologies,” aimed at promoting medical products based on AI technologies in the regions of the Russian Federation.

However, AI is not the only technology used to automate routine operations. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) systems also remain relevant. They perform tasks based on clearly defined algorithms, such as document collection, monitoring, and control.

In 2026–2027, RPA tools will continue to be implemented in regional ministries of health, medical information and analytical centers, and medical organizations.

Another important technology is IoT. Alongside wearable medical devices such as cardiac monitors, the healthcare industry is showing growing interest in wearable devices that are not classified as medical devices — for example, smartwatches, fitness bracelets, and smart rings.

Currently, the data from such devices cannot be used directly in medical information systems, but it may become valuable in the future within the framework of the federal project “Long and Active Life.”

How has the situation with the quality of medical data generated and transmitted by medical institutions changed over the past year?

Today it is impossible to imagine regional healthcare management without an analytical platform, and effective analytics requires high-quality medical data in sufficient volume.

Another promising trend is the secure exchange of medical data among participants in the healthcare system and related sectors. This makes it possible to combine many data fragments into a single large dataset and create various super services.

One example is the “Birth of a Child” super service. In a maternity hospital, a medical birth certificate is issued and transferred from the medical information system to the N3.Healthcare platform, and from there to the federal medical document registry. This automatically triggers a chain of processes that generate additional documents for the child — such as a SNILS number, medical insurance policy, and official birth certificate, along with the assignment of benefits.

Medical data exchange is also important for creating datasets used to train AI models. In such cases, it is necessary to ensure that the data is anonymized.

Which digital services are most in demand among patients today? And how are developers responding to these requests?

First, patients always value fast response times, especially when scheduling a doctor’s appointment. Integrating medical services with the national messenger will make this process more transparent, controllable, and secure.

Second, patients often need to receive medical care remotely, which is addressed through telemedicine services.

Third, there is growing demand for reducing routine interactions between patients and medical organizations — for example, quickly obtaining legally significant documents or test results.

The initiative of the Ministry of Health of Russia aims to make citizens’ medical documents practically useful. For example, in 2026 an online service for ordering medical certificates and other documents should become available in all regions, a service already used by millions of patients.

How will Russian healthcare develop in 2026 and where does Netrika Medicine plan to move next?

First, integration between the public and private healthcare sectors will intensify. In particular, all private clinics working within the mandatory health insurance system will have to connect not only to EGISZ, but also to the State Health Insurance Information System (GIS OMS).

Second, the use scenarios for the Max messenger and other online healthcare services will become increasingly diverse.

Third, many large companies are including employee health and safety in their long-term sustainability strategies. The functionality of our platform allows it to be applied not only at the regional level but also within industrial enterprises. This represents a huge market with significant potential, and we are currently building relationships with key customers in this area.

The combination of data analytics and AI technologies enables medical organizations to gradually move from treating diseases after they occur to preventing them.

Our customers who have implemented analytical platforms have already learned to work with data accurately, responsibly, and effectively — creating a strong foundation for further implementation of intelligent solutions.

Final thoughts

The main result of 2025 for me as CEO is that we once again confirmed our main uniqueness — our people and our culture.

Our breakthrough solutions, whether integration with MAX or the development of N3.AI, were implemented thanks to a team that knows how to work proactively.

When we talk about entering new markets or strategic development, we are primarily talking about the people who make it possible. Our customers in Russia and abroad choose us not only for our technological stack but also for the human factor.

We do not sell a product “box” and disappear. We enter into long-term partnerships, understand our customers’ challenges, and share risks with them.

Because socially significant projects can only be implemented in this way — based on mutual respect and a sincere desire to help.

This approach may not always be measurable in metrics and may not always generate immediate profits. But it allows us to maintain high standards even in conditions of growing turbulence in the world around us.