Rezus.lt blood laboratory: family business grows with a different approach to the client

The blood laboratory that started in Šiauliai 12 years ago is now a successfully expanded network of medical laboratory tests across Lithuania, uniting three family women. About the beginning of the activity, the business values that allow overcoming considerable competition in the sector, market trends, and further plans are discussed by the foundation of Rezus.lt - director Daiva Kazlauskienė, deputy manager Ugnė Selvenienė, and project development manager Aurėja Kazlauskaitė.

Identifying the need

What was the beginning of the company? How did you decide to start your own business?

Daiva: I have been in business for more than 12 years, but speaking about Rezus.lt, having gained experience in this field, I realized that the services we provide today were indeed lacking in the Šiauliai region more than a decade ago.

At the same time, looking historically, the need for a private laboratory and the expansion of activities to other cities in Lithuania was dictated by the situation in the entire market at that time, when only state medical institutions existed, which did not have their own laboratories and could only offer primary, necessary tests, examining their samples in hospitals. Gradually, as the basket of necessary tests and preventive programs grew and society's awareness increased, there was a need to expand not only for various medical institutions, family clinics, doctor's offices, but also for private companies providing high-quality and fast laboratory testing services. Thus, Šiauliai became our business starting point, but the competition in the sector forces growth, looking for new opportunities, therefore today we have to operate not only in our home city but also migrate to other Lithuanian cities.

Finally, the establishment of the business was also encouraged by my growing daughters, one of whom, Ugnė, joined the company's activities from its very start, already having her responsibilities in the company while still in school. As the business grew, Aurėja, who had gained professional experience in other companies, joined our family team, bringing valuable experience and innovations to the company. Family, especially when its members choose a professional path in the same activity sector and contribute to the development and growth of the common business, motivates action and achieving goals even more.

You are also the founder of the Association of Diagnostic and Treatment Institutions (DIGA). Did the business-related activity arise from a need in the sector?

Daiva: When I started visiting my clients' medical institutions, family clinics, which were not large and could not maintain the entire administrative apparatus with the funds allocated from the patient funds, which meant that the doctor had to become both a manager and a financier and take on other activities instead of focusing on treatment, I realized that help in managing processes, constantly changing legislative framework, and fighting for their rights is necessary for them. This, as well as the pressure from large market players, the changed pricing of services due to their arrival, and the deepening problem of the shortage of human resources, prompted the creation of an association uniting smaller treatment institutions, supporting the small business of this segment and its needs, so that it would have a voice in the market.

I am glad that a really significant part of institutions, privately working specialists, and nursing organizations willingly joined the association. Today, the Association of Diagnostic and Treatment Institutions includes more than 50 members, and it also belongs to the Association of Lithuanian Private Health Care Institutions.

Ugnė and Aurėja, what is each of your contributions to the laboratory's activities? Are you divided into management areas of the company's processes, or do you act as a unified team?

Aurėja: I joined the Rezus.lt team quite recently, my probationary period hasn't even ended yet! Initially, I didn't think about working in a laboratory, I wanted to be independent, but growing up I was always surrounded by medicine and laboratory topics, so eventually, there was an endless desire to join, gain experience from my mother and sister. Today I am responsible for project development and stepping into the marketing sphere.

Although we are divided into business management processes, we act as a unified team - since we are family, many discussions on business issues are discussed within the family circle. One of the advantages of a family business is that working hours do not exist, we can talk at any time, and sometimes ideas are born just at the dinner table. Still, I can say that at work, mom is a real director, so all tasks must be completed, and there is no such practice as closing the computer after 5 PM if tasks are not yet completed with us.

Ugnė: Meanwhile, I am responsible for quality assurance, the IT field - part of the business processes that require analytics, exact sciences knowledge. As Aurėja mentioned, being part of a family business, various projects and business issues can be discussed much more freely, without being limited to working hours. It happens that we talk both seriously and jokingly, which makes the work seem not like a duty but the creation of a common business, the pursuit of goals, giving each of us much greater freedom to express our views, propose solutions, and not be afraid to act.

Winning with genuine care

In Lithuania, it seems, there is still no formed habit of preventive health check-ups. Is this influenced by people's tense daily regime, or perhaps the accessibility of medical services, the constantly increasing (especially today - due to increased demand for services and costs for protective measures) prices of health services?

Daiva: I think that the problem could be solved by the voluntary health insurance option, which has long been practiced abroad. Then a person, paying premiums each month, would be more interested in checking their health condition. We have raised the issue of personal health insurance more than once, but today, unfortunately, in Lithuania, such insurance can only be offered by the employer. Typically, we have one system, one patient fund, we pay social insurance, and we get what is provided, and sometimes we even doubt if we are overpaying for it. In other words, we pay not for prevention but for disease detection, and here we already encounter the issues of the state health system, which indeed requires a new strategy and reform. In private clinics, on the contrary, there is a more holistic approach to the person.

Ugnė: It is also worth considering public education at the state level regarding preventive health check-ups, inviting citizens themselves to consciously care for their health. Perhaps it would be worth contemplating a system where even a prospective employer would need to present their personal medical record, indicating that all relevant preventive tests are performed regularly.

However, in this respect, there are changes towards the positive - from our practical side, we notice that more and more people under the age of 40 are turning to private clinics because they have the opportunity to do so, they see the importance and benefit of timely, fast, and high-quality, detailed health tests, consultations with different specialists for their well-being. No wonder health insurance is one of the most relevant motivational tools for employees in companies.

Aurėja: It is gratifying that we receive more and more younger people who have knowledge about various health tests, do not fear them, and are also more financially capable, who start taking care of their health earlier since preventive programs in medical institutions are applied only after reaching a certain age. Many processes in the body until the time of preventive tests are already advanced, so to prevent chronic diseases, diagnostics should be somewhat earlier.

What essential business principles do you follow to overcome the quite competitive market, especially in major Lithuanian cities?

Daiva: One of the reasons that encouraged expansion to the capital was a completely different, one could say, provincial business-like caring approach to a person, which is particularly lacking in intense cities. The fact that we genuinely care about patients' health, needs, constantly monitor and follow their condition and communicate, provide an opportunity to evaluate services and choose them according to their possibilities, rather than imposing one or another solution at our discretion for financial effect on the company is Rezus.lt's strength, likely bringing successful establishment even in larger Lithuanian cities.

Aurėja: We came from a relatively small town where everyone knows each other and communicates warmly, so this practice, although we encounter a much larger flow of people, we try to implement in the capital as well. Since we are not a scientific laboratory and use already tested testing methods, competing in the market is helped not only by innovations in the service spectrum but more by personal and long-standing professional experience of the company's team in this segment.

Ugnė: Besides focusing on patients, building their trust, clients of this sector also highly value business flexibility, service quality, speed, personnel competencies, so an additional number of components allow us to establish ourselves in the market - optimization of business processes and continuous contribution to the professional training of the company's team, the quality of testing and the expansion of the services portfolio.

Next steps dictated by the pandemic

Before the conversation, you mentioned that from the start to rapid growth, the company had to overcome difficult stages. You did not enter the market aggressively but grew step by step.

Daiva: I would assess one of the most challenging stages for the company precisely as the entry into the competitive Vilnius. Here we established an additional company, developed it, properly organized processes, understood the specifics of the city's market, and finally sold it, entered the capital with a measured Rezus.lt strategy.

It is impossible to avoid difficult stages in business, but they also bring importance - the gained experience and learned lessons allow planning steps for further activities with a completely different approach and striving for breakthroughs.

What is next for Rezus.lt?

Ugnė: Today, the biggest challenge remains the coronavirus, so one of our main plans is to continue helping people in the fight against the pandemic, providing necessary services safely, considering that many medical institutions are currently working at full capacity to control the spread of the virus.

Speaking about business activities, we still live under conditions of uncertainty, so there are no favorable conditions for strategic plans for the next decade, therefore, for now, we adapt and focus on the upcoming few years.

Aurėja: Touching upon the pandemic, this year, together with the Lithuanian Business Support Agency (LVPA), we started developing a project Creation of a New Generation COVID-19 in vitro Test, aiming to create a new generation COVID-19 diagnostic tool and fundamentally improve the testing methodology. During the project implementation, an attempt is made to choose the concept of creating a virus-recognizing molecule from nucleic acid aptamers, peptide aptamers groups, and antibodies generated using phage libraries (Phage display technology). I believe that this is not our last project since, in the light of the pandemic caused by the coronavirus, changes are inevitable. People's living habits are changing, new diseases are developing after COVID-19, so research laboratories are expanding their range of tests and looking for innovative methods.

Vž.lt article.