PETALING JAYA: Digital health platform DoctorOnCall saw its revenue, orders and consults triple during the movement control order (MCO) period, as it aims to build an end-to-end healthcare ecosystem.
DoctorOnCall prides itself as Malaysia’s first and largest digital health platform that offers affordable, accessible telehealth consultations, health content, doctors and specialist bookings. It also provides e-pharmacy and medication delivery at 30-70% cheaper than hospitals and clinics.
Since its establishment in 2017, DoctorOnCall has established partnerships with the Ministry of Health, 10 insurers, four third-party agencies, hospitals, 200 pharmacies and corporations. It also partners with the state governments of Selangor, Kedah, Perak, Terengganu and Penang in their health initiatives.
Co-founder and managing director Maran Virumandi (pix) said that prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, its revenue had been growing at a month-on-month average of 26% from January 2019 until January 2020.
“We were growing fast but our numbers almost tripled over the last few months because there’s a huge need to buy medications and consult doctors through the platform during the MCO period. As people use our services, they realise it’s a lot more convenient and cheaper,“ he told SunBiz in an interview recently.
Since March 2020, its platform has had a fivefold increase in the number of patients seeking telehealth. He said the platform is seeing “thousands” of transactions daily during the MCO from various health consultations (via private chat, phone or video call), with medication-related consults and purchases being the most popular.
Noting an 80% drop in patient attendance in physical clinics and hospitals as the public avoided the risk of Covid-19 infection, he said medication delivery service increased seven times and that the MCO has served as an enabler to telehealth digital adoption.
Post Covid-19, DoctorOnCall expects growth to come from wider market acceptance leading to increased demand, where it will be able to monetise assets, enrich offerings and lower costs.
“As we grow rapidly, the idea is to be a complete end-to-end healthcare ecosystem. We want to become the MEPS of healthcare,“ said Maran, referring to the Malaysian Electronic Payment System, an interbank network service.
He said DoctorOnCall is the only player providing digital healthcare across insurance, pharmacy and hospitals, both in the private and public sectors. He added that it has the widest range of service and is the clear digital healthcare leader in Malaysia commanding an 89% web traffic share.
DoctorOnCall receives over 5 million monthly web visits, over 3.8 million monthly active visitors, and over 100,000 consultations to date. Its network spans over 100 general practice doctors throughout Malaysia, over 1,500 specialists in private hospitals and over 200 pharmacies.
Maran explained that people above 60 who suffer from chronic conditions such as heart problems, diabetes, hypertension, respiratory issues and knee pain go to clinics often.
“These patients are in need of affordable healthcare so they come to our platform,“ said Maran, explaining that their children would book the appointment for their parents and buy medications for them via its platform.
Maran said Covid-19 has changed healthcare and DoctorOnCall is now an essential mainstream service. Its staff have been working from the office on a rotation basis, as well as working from home during the MCO.
DoctorOnCall has two models, which are pay-per-use and subscription. The subscription model allows members of insurers, corporates and government to use the platform for free. It currently has 200,000 subscriptions and is aiming for 1 million subscriptions by year-end.
Maran said it currently employs 60 staff, mainly the medical and pharmacy team and technology team based in Kuala Lumpur and Bangalore, India. It plans to double its staff size by year-end.
