The oldest mobile telecommunication provider in Malaysia recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with DoctorOnCall, a digital healthcare platform developed by a local company.
The partnership will look to explore innovations in the digital health space such as embedding DoctorOnCall plan(s) into the telecom’s digital offerings such as Business Suite for Retail.
The telecom will work together with DoctorOnCall, towards the potential of developing innovative healthcare and workplace offerings to its clients.
The platform, which was established in 2017, is Malaysia’s largest digital health platform that connects patients with an extensive network of over 1,500 Specialists in private hospitals and more than 100 GP doctors throughout the country.
Patients located anywhere in Malaysia are able to speak to doctors with just a private chat, phone or video call. They are also able to order and receive prescription drugs safely and promptly through the platform.
In the wake of tackling the threat of COVID-19, Malaysia’s Ministry of Health has also recently partnered with DoctorOnCall to establish a virtual health advisory portal to address the growing number of public queries on the coronavirus and to correct misinformation, according to a report by the Borneo Post.
The aim is to explore and develop the telecom’s digital aspirations in creating a sustainable digital ecosystem that is able to address the ever-evolving digital lifestyle of Malaysians, which includes healthcare needs.
The Co-Founder of DoctorOnCall said that with Malaysia on the verge of entering the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), digital healthcare services should be made more accessible to all Malaysians, be in the cities or in rural areas.
Currently, the platform had over one million monthly active users, and this new collaboration will allow the company’s digital health platform to reach even more patients throughout the country.
Growing digital healthcare partnerships
According to another article, the commercial wing of major Indian health insurance firm inked an MoU with TeleHealthcare Malaysia under which it will set up 100 tell clinics in that country to provide remote multi-speciality care and consultation to 3 million people.
The partnership is part of the organization’s broader objective to scale up its reach to touch 25 million lives globally by 2022.
A unit of Apollo Hospitals Group, Apollo TeleHealth uses new-age digital technology to create an alternate channel of healthcare delivery for under-served communities. In addition to providing healthcare services, it has been providing tele-education and telementoring services as well.
The firm’s objective is to expand its collective reach to as many as 25 million lives by 2022 through a series of initiatives in India and abroad.
The telehealth centres in Malaysia that are planned to be located at a distance of 50 km each will provide teleconsultations in multiple specialities including Endocrinology, Nephrology, Cardiology and Orthopaedics. They are expected to touch the lives of as many as 3 million people.
It was noted that public health delivery is affected deeply by economic and geographical disparities, particularly in developing nations.
There is not only a shortage of healthcare practitioners, but it also faces the problem of inequitable availability with most available doctors concentrated in urban areas.
To be able to address this accessibility gap in public healthcare delivery, there is a need to devise solutions that are innovative, technology-backed and cost-effective.
The organization aims to add new products and services to its kitty over the next couple of years with a focus to offer comprehensive healthcare solutions through telemedicine in states where healthcare suffers from a major dearth of resources.
