Innovation

The core innovation of Laurea Socials lies in its A–Z integrated healthcare communication model, which represents a sustainable and purpose-driven business innovation rather than a traditional marketing service. By embedding ethical, patient-centred communication into healthcare business operations, the company addresses misinformation while simultaneously creating long-term business value.

Usually, clinics purchase individual services from different companies. At Laurea Socials, however, strategy, branding, and content are integrated and aligned with a clear social purpose: combating health misinformation and supporting patients in making safer healthcare decisions based on messages from qualified experts.

As business co-founder Margaretha explains: “We help them from the start, from A to Z. We see the person behind the practice, and we see what they really need.”

A distinctive element of the innovation is its ecosystem-based partnership model. Laurea Socials collaborates with fourteen specialised partners across the Netherlands, allowing healthcare practices to receive holistic support across all patient touchpoints. This model ensures consistency, credibility, and ethical standards in health communication.

Importantly, the innovation is embedded in Laurea Socials’ core business operations and generates recurring revenue, making it a sustainable business model rather than a philanthropic initiative.

Inspiration

The idea for Laurea Socials originated from Margaretha’s personal experience within the healthcare system. During a routine dental visit, a dentist identified that she was suffering from jaw inflammation caused by prolonged stress and nighttime jaw clenching. The jaw muscles had become overloaded, leading to daily physical and mental complaints—an underlying cause that previous doctors had not been able to identify.

The dentist recommended a night guard and advised Margaretha to seek support from both a psychologist and a physiotherapist. Reflecting on this experience, Margaretha searched online for patient-friendly information but found none. As she explained:

“I checked on the internet for patient-friendly information, and there was no information about jaw infection or how it connects to mental and physical health.”

This experience revealed two systemic gaps: the lack of accessible, expert-based health information and insufficient collaboration among healthcare professionals. From this experience, Margaretha learned two important lessons, one of which she later expressed as a guiding principle:

“Never try to persuade people; they must become convinced of their own accord.”

These insights became the foundation of Laurea Socials’ mission—to enable experts to speak for themselves and to guide patients toward safer, more informed healthcare decisions.

Overall impact

The innovation has positioned Laurea Socials in a unique market niche focused exclusively on healthcare communication. By offering integrated, long-term partnerships rather than isolated services, the company has established stable client relationships and a strong reputation as a trusted advisor.

From the outset, this integrated approach to marketing and communication resulted in a financially viable and attractive business model, demonstrating that social value creation and economic performance can develop simultaneously. The partnership-based structure has also enabled Laurea Socials to plan international expansion, with Austria identified as the next market.

Impact on society

A powerful example of social impact emerged through Laurea Socials’ collaboration with a Dutch dentist treating patients who had suffered harm because of cosmetic dental tourism. An influencer family that had undergone aggressive cosmetic procedures abroad and publicly shared their experience after receiving communication guidance from Laurea Socials.

Margaretha recalled: “He said in his stories, ‘I made a mistake.’ And then newspapers started calling.”

The story gained national and international media attention, transforming an individual experience into a broader public learning moment. This case demonstrates how responsible, expert-led communication can raise awareness, discourage risky healthcare behaviour, and support safer patient decision-making.

Short-term and long-term effects

In the short term, Laurea Socials’ work improves patient understanding, reduces misinformation, and creates clearer expectations before medical visits. Healthcare professionals’ benefit from communication support that aligns with their limited time and professional responsibilities.

In the long term, the innovation contributes to a cultural shift toward ethical and transparent healthcare communication. By amplifying expert voices and encouraging informed choices, the model helps reduce harmful treatments, strengthens trust in healthcare systems, and supports more sustainable use of healthcare resources.

Business benefit

From a business perspective, Laurea Socials benefits from specialisation, long-term partnerships, and a scalable service portfolio. Margaretha and her business partner, Laurence, are open to working with an investor to expand and scale the business; however, such collaboration would only be considered if there is strong alignment in vision, values, and long-term goals.

Social and environmental benefit

The Laurea Socials case illustrates how social value creation can be embedded directly into a profit-oriented business model. Rather than treating sustainability as an additional activity, the company integrates ethical communication, stakeholder collaboration, and long-term partnerships into its core operations. By aligning economic performance with societal well-being, Laurea Socials demonstrates how businesses can act as agents of positive social change while remaining financially viable and scalable.

The innovation contributes directly to SDG 3 "Good Health and Well-Being" by enabling informed patient decisions and indirectly supports SDG 4 "Quality Education" through accessible health knowledge. By discouraging unnecessary medical tourism, the model also reduces environmental impact related to travel and duplicated treatments. Additionally, Laurea’s partnership ecosystem advances SDG 17 "Partnerships for the Goals".

Interview

Margaretha Thiebou, Co-Founder and Director, Laurea Socials