Telehealth service operator expands capacity

CEBU, Philippines — The operator of KonsultaMD, 917Ventures, is poised to expand its reach including service capacity realizing that telemedicine is here to stay—even beyond COVID-19.

“Our situation has taken away the reluctance of many Filipinos to try telehealth services. People are looking for ways to stay safe from the virus while our hospitals are overwhelmed with patients. KonsultaMD has become a platform that connects Filipinos to much-needed medical consults for non-emergency cases,” said Cholo Tagaysay, chief executive officer of KonsultaMD, during a recently held virtual media briefing.

According to Tagaysay, 917Ventures is putting its hands on the ground to catch up with the rising demand for remote medical access, which is bannering convenience, affordability and safety in healthcare service.

Close to two years now in facing the threat of COVID-19, medical consultations through the KonsultaMD app registered 1,549 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels.

During the briefing, Tagaysay bared that the tele-medicine service has reached over one million members who have access to licensed doctors via voice or video calls, 24/7 for as low as P60 a month.

KonsultaMD members can consult with doctors specializing in different fields -- from general medicine, family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, rehabilitation medicine, mental health support (counseling and psychotherapy), psychiatry, dermatology, ophthalmology, dentistry, ENT and surgery.

It also provides digital management of health consultation records and issuance of medical documents such as e-prescriptions, e-laboratory requests, e-referrals and e-medical certificates.

“We’ve had high hopes for KonsultaMD even before the pandemic. We saw it as a way to address the pain points in Philippine healthcare, which was suffering from a lack of healthcare professionals, inadequate health infrastructure, and limited accessibility, not to mention the high cost of medical consultation,” said Vince Yamat, 917Ventures managing director.

Pre-pandemic people were wary of using the service as they are used to traditional face-to-face consultations, “but with the pandemic, things have changed. Telehealth has become an important innovation that will stay and evolve,” Yamat noted.

Tagaysay expressed confidence that even after the pandemic, the public’s behavior of consulting with a doctor via voice or video will remain if the current trend is an indication.

In fact, he mentioned that even when Covid-19 cases subsided early this year, teleconsults continued to grow as people realized the advantages of using the service and going digital.

“It is also like using your GCash. Do you think you’ll stop using it after this pandemic when you have already gotten used to it?” said Tagaysay, adding that the presence of telemedicine providers isn’t going to replace face-to-face consultations but it is going to be the first touch point of consumers in seeking medical attention.