#24- Healthcare Ecosystems: The Platform Opportunity in Telemedicine
Telehealth is a big opportunity in Emerging Markets like- India, ASEAN, Latin America, ME, and China.
India- 1.3 billion population ( The model is yet to reach its Uber moment, but there are pioneers like Practo, 1mg, Lybrate, Medlife, Portea)
There is only one allopathic government doctor for every Ten-Thousand people in India against the WHO’s recommended doctor-population ratio of 1:1000, stated a government report that was compiled by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI), the National Health Profile, 2019, stated that the number of registered allopathic doctors possessing recognized medical qualifications (under the MCI Act) and registered with state medical councils for 2017 and 2018 was 43,581 and 41,371, respectively.
Africa- With over 1.2 billion populations will be one of the leading hotspots of telehealth opportunity
ASEAN- 640 million (Regional and Local players are coming up- some even partnering with Super Apps)
For HaloDoc: The consultation fee is between 25,000 to 75,000 rupiah ($1.7 to $5), which is lower than an in-person consultation at a traditional clinic. There are several thousand consultations a day, with Halodoc taking between 5% to 25% of the consultation fee depending on the contract with the doctor.
Latin America — 650 million population with high smartphone penetration presents a ripe opportunity that has been further accelerated by COVID-2019
What’s happening in ASEAN- the Super App or cross-platform Integration?
Halo Doc and GoJek: Halodoc now has some 2 million users and a database of 20,000 doctors. It has partnered with the super app of Indonesia — Go Jek to drive user traffic on its platform.
In 2017, Indonesian ride-hailing player merged its on-demand medicine delivery service Go-Med into Indonesian health tech startup HaloDoc. Go-Med was already available within the Go-Jek app. Users now can click on the same via the Go-Jek app and they will be redirected to HaloDoc’s app. With HaloDoc now offers end-to-end medical consultation services. Go-Jek and HaloDoc’s association started in 2016 when the ride-hailing company invested in it.
Grab and Ping An’s Good Doctor JV: Grab the leading mobility player of SEA, partnered with China’s Ping An Good doctor platform to operate regionally, will provide an array of integrated medical services such as artificial intelligence (AI) assisted online medical consultations, medicine delivery, and appointment bookings through an online platform. The joint venture will work with governments, hospitals, doctors, and other key stakeholders and seek partnerships to ensure local market needs are met. The joint venture will leverage GrabPay, Southeast Asia’s leading digital wallet, to complete transactions
KonsultaMD and Globe Telecom — In Philippine, Globe owns the KonsultaMD platform via its subsidiary-Global Telehealth, Inc. (KonsultaMD). By dialing 79880 toll-free from Globe or TM mobile phones or 02–7798–8000 from any landline, the user may talk to a doctor to ask for medical information for primary health conditions, maternity, pediatrics, mental health, COVID-19; interim care, and self-care recommendations; health, exercise coaching; food, nutrition counseling; reading of laboratory and diagnostic results; and permissible medication, among others. KonsultaMD doctors are available 24/7 and can determine the urgency of the situation. If it is an emergency or not, whether the patient needs to go to the hospital for further evaluation or testing, telephone triaging, everything is determined accordingly.
According to Globe’s, KonsultaMD Registered 450% Jump in Consultations Due to Pandemic (between Jan 2020 to April 2020)
Frictionless telehealth experience is only going to increase
Post-COVID-2019, the consumer adoption of telemedicine is only going to increase further.
The expansion will happen category-wise, starting with:
- For non-chronic conditions, there is really no need to visit a doctor’s clinic.
- Working parents can seek teleconsultation for kids over the video calls
- Employees who have to produce a medical certificate to report sick can directly call the appointed partner doctors of an organization
- Mental health and psychiatry sessions can happen over a video call
Who is best suited to mobilize a health tech ecosystem?
- Platforms and Super Apps
- Big Provider Hospital Networks
- Medtech companies
- Health-insurance Payors
- Pharmaceutical Companies
- Wearable providers
Who is leading the way- China and US?
China- 1.3 billion — The platform players have already started to emerge as the world’s leading innovators in the telehealth space.
The USA- US market is mature and ripe for telehealth adoption. It is also home to the leading disruptor Teladoc
Will deep-dive more into who is best suited to be the orchestrator and two best in class examples- Teladoc and Ping An’s Good Doctor in my next write up
Regards,
Sidhartha Sharma
Digital Strategy-Platform and Ecosystems Expert
Views are personal
