Just ‘Klick’ for a Doc

In a bid to simplify myriad problems posed by one’s deteriorating health, Klickdoc has come up with an app that aims to be patient and doctor friendly.

So if you have a problem, ranging right from a persistent fever to getting medicines delivered to your doorstep, Klickdoc, a Bengaluru-based startup, wants to be the one-stop solution. “Nowadays, getting an approval for leave is hard. So when elderly people need their health check-up done, nobody has the time to take them to the hospital,” explains Kishore AK, CEO, Klickdoc Services.

Kishore, who hails from Hyderabad, is a veteran in the IT industry (most recently having worked with outsourcing major AtoS), hit upon the idea one night, when his wife received a late night call from a patient. “My wife is a doctor and used to get calls after 10 p.m. from patients, with queries like what kind of check-ups or medicines need to be taken,” he says. That’s when the idea was born; of creating a platform that can bring in transparency for patients and doctors, so they can manage their schedule better.

What can you do?

With Klickdoc, you can book appointments online, order medicines, collect diagnostic samples, access medical records and most importantly, help patients connect with doctors over video for consulting. Research has pointed out that 80 per cent of the time, a patient need not visit the doctor but can make-do with a consultation over videoin cases where the doctor’s involvement is minimal.

The maturing of image technologies, with high resolution cameras finding their way into smartphones and other devices, have addressed some issues of the past, wherein theservices could not be rendered suitably. This collaboration, which was started off by corporates especially for their meetings, can now be extended to families wherein a sibling and parents can do a three-way videoconferencing with a doctor.

How’s it different?

At a time when competitors like Practo and others offer similar services, how does the company plan to stand apart? Because the platform is free for patients, doctors and pharmacists, says Kishore. He also believes that the facility of enabling patients to book medicines online is a big draw. “Often, there is a shortage of certain kinds of prescription medicines. If a person can be given an option to book it online, it makes their life easier,” he says.

The patients can also access their medical records online through the portal or the app. “Currently, a lot of people in the IT industry stationed abroad have to rely on doctors having to courier or email the health records of their patients, which is very time-consuming. With this portal, healthcare records can be stored safely,” he says.

Book appointments

Another feature that Klickdoc provides is the ability to see a doctor’s schedule online, a feature which the CEO believes, will have a big impact on all stakeholders. “Instead of calling for a doctor’s availability, a patient can choose the timeslot — much like a grocery delivery, which would result in efficiencies from both the doctor as well as patients’ side,” he says. Also, every doctor, pharmacy and diagnostic centre have a secure unique login, thus enabling privacy of the patients’ database. Kishore has already got 750 doctors in the system and has a tie-up with Thyrocare Diagnostic Centre. “Our plan this year is to be all over India and cover 20,000 doctors,” he says.

Will it work?

While the logic sounds strong, there have been repeated assertions from doctors in public seminars that people do not understand the way technology functions. They feel such technologies increase their time on administration when they have to manage a deluge of patients.

But Kishore emphasises that the application is very easy to use and is made with the very intent of reducing admin work. “If you see, we do not have a registration option when anybody comes to the site. Only after booking does the patient give out details, such as their mobile phone number, email address and location,” counters Kishore.

He also believes strongly that players like Practo have not yet got the formula right with regard to the way doctors’ work, and that they are concentrating mostly on increasing the number of patients and doctors into their system.

Homeopathy

Though the start-up is bootstrapped at present, in the future, it intends to be an aggregator for homeopathic doctors as well. “It is one of those areas which is seeing a huge demand. We are confident of replicating our success there too,” he says.

The drivers for this kind of business seem strong. India is the world’s second-largest online population in the world, after Brazil. However, with seven of 10 people expected to shop online, which is expected to clock $90 billion by 2020, there is scepticism amongst investors whether technology can support this kind of growth, especially in sensitive sectors like healthcare.