Get doctors on GetDoc
During Malaysia’s MCO, GetDoc was extremely useful at connecting persons and businesses to the healthcare services that they require. The MCO is relaxing a bit now and it is possible to walk into clinics and hospitals, but there is a renewed focus on digital health platforms like GetDoc. CEO and founder, Shung Toon, talks to Enterprise IT News about its potential and the way forward.
EITN: What does GetDoc do and who does it address?
Shung Toon: GetDoc is a mobile/web solution of Jireh Group, a health technology company with presence in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. It is a platform where users can search for nearby clinics, select doctors, send enquiries or book appointments. Users can also make cashless payments to clinics via GetDocPay or consult a doctor online anytime, anywhere. In addition, users can sign up for GetDocPlus, a concessionary healthcare benefit to access affordable healthcare.
GetDoc’s objectives are to serve as a platform where users can make informed decisions about their healthcare and to deliver a better healthcare experience to the community. Thus, on the platform, users not only can connect easily and instantly with providers but will have access to active health forums, health tips from trending articles and trusted A-Z health library
EITN: In a way, perhaps GetDoc’s services are in response to current challenges in the way individuals and businesses can obtain healthcare services? What are the TOP challenges (business, user behaviour, regulatory, legacy) that exist currently that GetDoc can address?
Shung Toon: GetDoc’s digital health platform has the potential to transform the way healthcare is being accessed and delivered.
For starters, today people face challenges in accessing the right provider for a specific health problem. GetDoc app empowers users to find the right doctor whether a specialist or GP, profiled among its network of established clinics, at a desired location and get an appointment in a timely way.
Alongside GetDoc’s connectivity with the community, we were in the midst of developing our teleconsultation platform, GetDocLive, when the pandemic hit the world. Seeing the immediate need for this platform during a lockdown has encouraged us to speed up our development process to introduce telemedicine consultation last year. With the Government and Ministry of Health imposing SOPs and regulations on social distancing, the teleconsultation platform allows users to consult their doctors, have medication delivered to them and make payment via our e-payment platform, all from the comfort and safety of their own homes.
Since the launch of GetDoc 5 years ago, we have been continuously developing solutions to digitise the delivery of care. For example, one such solution working with insurers, is the eLOG portal, designed to ease the burden of upfront hospital admission cost for health insurance policy holders. With an eLOG solution in place, patients who are policy holders can look forward to a hassle free, cashless hospital admissions so they can focus on their health. The other solution is a TeleRAD platform for imaging centres, which enables clinical images to be studied remotely by specialists, facilitating an efficient process and more rapid turnaround.
EITN: Let’s talk about the tech side of things now.. could you share about the kind of resources that goes into creating a platform like GetDoc’s. Is it seamless with the platform available in Singapore (and elsewhere)?
Shung Toon: To develop the GetDoc platform, which does not just stop at a mobile app, the work required takes time and resources that are scarce in Malaysia. Most of our tech personnel are not Malaysians and are working off site. The challenge we often face is aligning user expectations with technology. As such, when we develop a product, we also involve not only the user community but other stakeholders such as our clinic partners and meeting each country’s regulatory requirements.
GetDoc App is designed to work not only locally, but also seamlessly in multiple countries so that our users who use the App can find providers around the region. For this reason, GetDoc app facilitates medical tourism, an advantage for Malaysia which is emerging as an important global medical destination for regional and international patients, which we expect to restart as borders open for travel.
EITN: What is your approach when it comes to security of the platform and privacy of your users?
Shung Toon: We treat platform security and privacy very seriously. Our platform is hosted on secured hosting platforms. We are firm believers in “security is a process, not a product”. It’s not good enough to have best of class firewalls and threat prevention products. We also ensure our teams adopt industry best practices, from design to operation, to safeguard our platform.
We understand the educated users are now more aware of their right to privacy. Our platform doesn’t store PII (Personally Identifiable Information) and we don’t share your information with third parties without your consent. We have a data protection policy that ensures we operate in compliance with the PDPA regulations in those countries in which we operate. We have also appointed DPO (Data Protection Officer) to ensure that we process personal data in compliance with our policy and the local regulation. The DPO is also a point of contact for users to reach out to us on privacy issues.
EITN: What are future technology plans that you have for the GetDoc platform? ie. expansion to other locations, addition of features etc?
Shung Toon: As a digital health ecosystem builder providing IT solutions, GetDoc is working on next generation cloud-based solutions deploying the latest infocomm technology including blockchain solutions.
We are building a comprehensive medical management system to deploy soon. Finding better ways to manage chronic diseases is one of healthcare’s biggest challenges. Conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and asthma can have devastating effects if not managed well from the time they are diagnosed. They also consume the vast majority of resources in most healthcare systems. GetDoc is also focusing on how to facilitate care on these chronic conditions, from the clinicians’ practice and to empower patients. We are working on doing this in ways which are cost-effective and broaden access to care.
Our group’s vision is to continue developing power solutions in healthcare through innovative techniques and next generation platforms to improve productivity, efficiency and better outcomes in the delivery of healthcare.
EITN: Please also share about the partnerships that you have – there seems to be a wealth of content with pharmacy companies, but even also tie-ups with brands like UOB and Digi. What are the rationales that drive your partnerships and collaboration, and also online forum events that you organise with healthcare professionals etc?
Shung Toon: As mentioned earlier, GetDoc was developed with the aim of empowering everyone to take charge of their own health. That means driving digital technology adoption by users too. To this end, we work with various strategic partners where value-add services can be offered by both parties to our respective customer base. For example, Digi users are given 1-year membership on GetDoc Plus where they can enjoy members’ rate on GetDoc’s panel clinics.
We frequently enter into collaborative affiliate marketing on health education programs to mutually benefit each other’s engagement with the community, such as in the partnership with AstraZeneca to raise awareness about asthma.