When you are unwell, getting the best medical advice and the initial diagnosis correct matters the most. It is common to hear how patients often find themselves completely at loss in the line of treatment not knowing the right doctor to consult with. Tossed around among doctors, many times the solution to an ailment is elusive or delayed.
The maze that our hospitals are, the crowds that pack in each day, the multitude of super-speciality treatments and the array of choices available today are bewildering enough for a patient to decide which path to follow. Instead, nothing like a service that helps you to avoid crowd, locate a doctor of your choice nearby, schedule an appointment as per your convenience, get the lab tests done in the comfort of your home, get medicines delivered at doorstep and budget your healthcare expenses sitting at home.
Though in nascent stage, very soon a complete health check-up will also be a few clicks away just like the host of online services from booking movie or travel ticket to ordering food, books, furniture and clothes.
Bringing it on is a doctor couple, Dr.Hema and Sathish Devadoss, who run the Devadoss Multi-speciality Hospital in Madurai as the Managing Director and Director (Medical Services) respectively. It took them four years of brainstorming and learning to conceive and develop “mywedjat.com” for digitally engaging doctors and patients, research scholars and the medical fraternity, nurses and paramedics, pathologists and technicians, diagnostic labs and hospitals, insurance policy planners and health product distributors, all under a common platform.
There are several health-related portals that offer stand alone services like a call or video chat with doctors, or present digital reports for investigations, or buy medicines online, or choose health insurance policy. But wedjat.com has some unique features. According to the couple, it is the first comprehensive and complete health care portal where all services (with majority free) are organised in one site.
Dr.Sathish, an orthopaedic surgeon and Dr.Hema, a cosmetic dermatologist have set up the digital forum as a social initiative. “There is no commercial transaction between us and the patient who logs in. Our aim is to maximise the reach of healthcare with multiple options and unbiased suggestions,” says Dr.Sathish. “As doctors we are familiar with the medical set up and, therefore, constantly tweak the site for improving the end-to-end experience for a patient in any part of the world,” adds Dr.Hema.
It was an entrepreneurial meet of Young Indians in Russia four years ago that led the couple into the world of digital marketing. “Till then we only knew about online booking for hotels, cabs, flights and movie tickets,” says Dr.Sathish. “There was no service on health care and we instantly realised there was a huge space to be filled to network with people in our own field,” follows Dr. Hema.
The thought both inspired and nagged the couple so much that upon return they floated “Wedjat Health Solutions” – and introduced two key platforms to begin with. One was an app for giving a second medical opinion to those who needed it and the other was the e-commerce site selling 100 over-the-counter products.
With the second opinion app available on iTunes and Google Play Store, it worked well with people searching for a quick and reliable medical opinion, despite being the only payable option for its niche service. Particularly tourists and NRIs on vacation, who find it tough to locate the right doctor in a city that is not theirs, found the app useful. On the health e-com site people shopped for the best health care products at competitive prices and uncompromising quality.
The response and feedback gave the duo the confidence for expansion. This meant all the touch points in the cycle had to be developed. Over the next two years more platforms were added to bring wholesome and integrated healthcare to the comfort of peoples’ home at their convenience.
This includes the self-help guide to understanding and buying health policies and medical insurances. Six top NABL accredited labs across the country were linked for medical diagnostics. This helps people to locate a lab nearby on mywedjat.com and also request for home service (wherever possible) for over 1,000 different types of tests, scans and x-rays.
With utmost privacy and safety, Health Vault helps a patient to record, save and store online all data, reports and information about their individual health or the entire families free of cost. By uploading personal details and medical data, the patient has the option to share the selected report with a doctor via email or whatsapp. The doctors are all enlisted in the medical directory as provided by the Medical Council of India and the patient can find one of his or her choice and either audio/video chat or directly fix an appointment at a suitable date and time.
At present, the number of products listed in e-shop has crossed 2,500 and include fitness equipment and supplements, pain, skin and hair care products, orthopaedic items like belts, collars, wheelchair and walking aids, exclusive contact lens, organic and baby care products. Dr.Hema personally interacts and procures the best items from standardised domestic and international distributors. “We do not include anything that requires a drug licence,” she points out.
Dr.Sathish highlights the positives of online service are the promptness and paperless work. “People no longer have to carry files and reports in hand,” he says. “Everything is stored for them on their personal gadgets like ipads, laptops and mobiles and they can anytime anywhere just get the medical reports on their display screen or forward them easily when necessary,” continues Dr.Hema.
Ever since mywedjat.com went operational on all platforms last month, 200 patients from Devadoss Multi-speciality Hospital registered themselves. “We are looking at our annual OPD attendance of 35,000 to 40,000 patients every year and want to put each of them on mywedjat,” notes Dr.Sathish.
“For technophobes, it all appears very impersonal in the beginning but once the patient understands, logs on and starts using it, he or she finds it so hassle-free and convenient,” he says.
Right now the doctor couple is also busy educating the patients through demo PPTs for each page on mywedjat.com. We are targeting the 25 to 45 year olds in every family who tend to be more active on the social media, says Dr.Hema. But being the first and the only one in the Indian market to start comprehensive healthcare online, there are still some teething problems like the language problem in dealing with patients from other States and nationalities, she points out.
However, the duo asserts the service has opened up a new wavelength of communication where everything can be planned and decided sitting at home at almost zero-cost. “A patient can now look for good quality health care at home or in the vicinity of home instead of travelling long distances and finally returning baffled from crowded hospitals and clinics,” says Dr.Hema, who has also started a blog which is constantly updated with latest medical information and articles on health care. She has already found 100 bloggers writing and 3,000 reading it regularly. Also making its presence on Pinterest, Tumblr, fb and twitter, mywedjat.com plans to include online pharmacy soon.
The digitalised all-in-one platform is an innovative attempt to address the genuine concerns and issues of patients. Wedjat is the Rx symbol on every doctor’s prescription which is derived from the Eye of the Horus, the Egyptian goddess of power, good health and protection. Both Sathish and Hema share the drive and determination to achieve. “As doctors, we felt we could guide the people properly to make informed choices about their health,” they echo. “With mywedjat, we are giving the patients a voice and the right to make that informed choice.”
