Another app but this time for house call doc

It was refreshing to attending a talk by a local start-up, Speedoc today and learn that a Grab (or Uber) style app for medical house call services has begun here in Singapore. Meeting the team at their hip office venue, JustCo Co-working Space, I learnt about how this app allows patients who are inconvenienced by their medical conditions to tap on available doctors to visit them, provide consultation and administer treatment at their residences. According to Cindy, the Head of Business Development, Speedoc has already cross the 100 home visits mark since it begun its humble operation a few months ago. This is pretty encouraging and they are continuing to grow.

Speedoc "brings" the doctors to the patients who need them.

The Speedoc service is different from telemedicine where patients and doctors interact across spatial divide through telephone or internet. Telemedicine has always been restricted by the fact that the doctor is unable to perform the physical examination and the potential of his/her clinical diagnostic capability could not be maximised. In addition, therapeutic options are also limited unless there is a pre-existing arrangement for example a nurse in attendance with the patient, to provide the treatment recommended after the tele-consultation. Speedoc "brings" the doctors to the patients who need them.

I strongly feel that the ability to match the patient to an available doctor in a timely manner is going to be the key to the success for this innovation

Calling for a doctor house call used to be a very frustrating experience; many-a-times the neighbourhood doctors may not always be able to leave their clinic to attend to the urgent medical needs of the patient in their home. What I find excited about the app is the ability to match patient with doctors and I strongly feel that the ability to match the patient to an available doctors in a timely manner is going to be the key to the success for this innovation. The ability for Speedoc to muster a sizeable pool of patients and doctors is also essential: there must be a critical mass of sufficient number of doctors on board with Speedoc so that no request is turned down because none of the doctors are available doctors and there must be enough demand for the house call service generated from a huge base patients who are bought with the idea of using this platform to source for house call services. Both are equally important to sustain this startup and Speedoc is working very hard on that.

At the talk, Dr Shravan Verma a young and energetic doctor and CEO of Speedoc introduced this new platform to an audience of about 20 doctors eager to learn about how this technological advancement may affect how patients can engage their services. The concern of doctors with regards to privacy were laid to rest because the personal mobile number of the attending doctor is concealed in any communication (either by phone call or instant messaging) through the Speedoc app. Reassurance were given in terms of support on equipment, medications as well as electronic medical records.

quality medical service is not always something that patients would associated with low cost

When Uber (and subsequently Grab) entered and made an impact in the private transportation industry a few years ago, we saw the prices moved and it is still rather dynamic. Many may feel it is cheaper to travel with Grab drivers but it may not always be the case based on some of my personal experience using private hire car (booked through Grab) versus flagging down a taxi. With the Speedoc app, does it mean that house call will become more affordable for patients? This may not necessarily occur but the presence of this app will definitely make pricing of house call more transparent since the app notifies the patient of the price before he/she accepts the service. Unlike Grab (or Uber), quality medical service is not always something that patients would associated with low cost. However, like ride-hailing apps, patients have the power of choice now.

I do hope that this innovation succeed and believe that the platform can and will do more than just house call service. It may write a new chapter in medical innovation.