How SpringCard supported AFCare and Doctolib with a mobility solution for healthcare professionals

Our client François Sendra, co-founder in 2017 of the AFCare start-up, runs a company that supports software publishers serving self-employed health professionals (doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, etc.) who want to develop a mobility project linked to SESAM-Vitale.

In a project carried out for Doctolib, AFCare turned to SpringCard to design a PC/SC and Bluetooth smart card reader, addressing usage and security requirements, with its intelligence driven by a mobile application on iOS and Android.

The main challenges for AFCare were to meet the different usage and security requirements of healthcare professionals, namely:

• a two-slot reader able to read Vitale cards as well as CPS cards,
• a reader that works over both USB and Bluetooth,
• a small, light reader, easy to carry with as much autonomy as possible,
• a secure reader for the encryption of BLE data,
• an approved reader meeting the security requirements of GIE SESAM-Vitale.

It was in close collaboration with our R&D office that the reader was custom-designed and tested in its environment for several months, until reaching a perfectly adapted solution.

Once these steps were completed, the DoctoReader was redesigned to meet Doctolib’s product guidelines.

The reader is now used by nearly 600 healthcare professionals, equipped both in the office in PC/SC mode and, above all, on the move thanks to its BLE mode, for general practitioners making home visits.

More than a year after its commercial launch, feedback from doctors has been very positive, with no correction needed at either the electronic or firmware level.

According to François Sendra: “The forecasts are trending upward for 2022 and 2023, with a strategy to extend the DoctoReader network to physiotherapists and nurses.”

Proof of a project smoothly delivered by the Doctolib, AFCare and SpringCard teams.

AFCare turned to SpringCard for its 20-plus years of expertise in designing electronic products and for the quality of its services.

From the very first exchanges with our engineering office team, François Sendra describes how the SpringCard teams adapted to meet the challenges of a custom product: “A professional approach to the deliverable while staying agile on the project’s development.”

AFCare has since been acquired by Doctolib. SpringCard continues to collaborate with its loyal partner François Sendra, now Director of Hardware Engineering at Doctolib.