Healthcare at a smart click

When Himanshu Bhandari felt severe pain and noticed bleeding in his teeth recently, he instead of booking an appointment with a dentist, consulted one using a smartphone application. “I came across the Lybrate App on Facebook and consulted a dentist listed on it. He advised me to take a painkiller which helped,” he says.

While some cite reasons like lack of time, others point out that “it is an ordeal to visit a doctor for every small issue”. As a working professional, Bhandari is one of the many who are not able to take out time from their busy schedules and go for regular medical check-ups or find a doctor who suits their schedules.

Manjeet, who got married two and a half years ago, joined her husband who works in Assam, only a year back. After shifting to a new place, she was sceptical to seek medical help. That is when she decided to consult a gynaecologist on a smartphone app. She describes, “Since, I shifted to a new place I was not sure about which doctor to trust. I wanted to understand when would be the right time to plan a family and through DocsApp’s chats, I was suggested six-eight medical tests, the reports of which are still expected.”

While online medical consultation service portals have been popular in the United States with apps like Doctor On Demand, HealthTap and iTriage, there are few which have mushroomed in India in the last two years including 99doctors.com, iCliniq,  MeraDoctor, E-Vaidya, Lybrate and DocsApp.

From common cold to issues of mental health, many people are seeking medical advice through these apps installed on their smartphones.

During one of his visits to a chemist, Saurabh Arora noticed that while many people came to them with valid prescriptions, there were others who discussed the symptoms with the chemist and sought their advice “which might be dangerous”. This is how, he says, Lybrate App was born.

“We believe that there so many users/patients as compared to the doctors and we need to solve the problem by making accessibility convenient for both parties,” Arora, founder and CEO of Lybrate App tells Metrolife.

He adds that the idea was to “reduce the gap between patients and doctors by multiplying the presence of doctors”.

Agrees Satish Kannan, co-founder and CEO, DocsApp and says, “Fundamentally, everyone today has a smartphone and the figure will only grow in the next 10 years.

Also, good doctors are mostly concentrated in smart cities across India but with the convenience of apps, users can reach even those who are in far off areas.” 

“Though 28 per cent of the cases can’t be dealt online and are straightaway advised to consult a nearby doctor or hospital, e-prescriptions are used for the other 72 per cent cases,” he adds.

Bengaluru-based Dr A S Sanjay, who specialises in general medicine, started providing consultation through DocsApp, a few months back. He says, “There are some interesting questions which patients ask and some are misconceptions which I try to dispel.

However, when I feel they should consult a doctor near their place for better diagnosis, I tell them so.”

As a practising gynaecologist for the last seven years, Dr Tejal Deshmukh joined Lybrate App, three months back. She mostly gets queries on vaginal infection, irregular blood flow during menstruation and pregnancy-related doubts.

She says, “Since the conversations are chat-based, many women feel comfortable asking questions which they might not be able to ask their doctors freely. They also feel at ease while sharing their problems because of the privacy maintained.”

On the question of credibility of their panel, Kannan says, “We do a thorough
background check so as to not admit a fraudulent doctor on the panel.”

While Arora mentions that many doctors charge less if the patients visit through the app, a few believe that the first consultation, which is provided for free, might be one reason for people trying these apps. Twenty-two-year-old Pratik Anand says, “These apps are definitely convenient, but free consultation is a good reason to give it a try.”