Virtual healthcare platform Kitika recently launched their mobile app, which aims to provide people with a more convenient way of consulting their physicians anywhere, anytime.
The telehealth app is targeting the millennial generation who rely on technology for their lifestyles.
Among the reasons why why most people fail to seek medical care include the high cost of medicine, lack of time, heavy traffic, being in a rural area, long lines at the hospital, and self-diagnosis. With Kitika’s service that entails unlimited calls, chat, and video calls to their contact centers with nurses and doctors on the line, remote patient consultancy and monitoring, as well as real time communication are enabled.
According to Dr. Ferdinand Abella, some of the issues plaguing the country in terms of healthcare include outdated practices like manual data entry of medical practitioners that cause poor medical records. Overcrowding of patients in public medical institutions is also a factor, as well as the expensive costs of treatments and medicine.
“In the Philippines, healthcare systems remain one of the most crucial sectors to be developed. The same circumstances that are driving the global growth of telehealth are also evident in the Philippines, which consequently fuels the need and demand,” said Abella.
Their in-house general practitioners can not only issue professional opinion, but specialist referrals, e-prescriptions, and medical certificates as well. Kitika is positioning virtual medical advice and consultations to be convenient and less time-consuming for patients.
In the country today, the ratio of doctor to patient is a staggering 1:33,000, with five beds for every 10,000 patients across 1800 hospitals and three hours average of waiting time. Fortunately, 48 million Filipinos are currently insured, which shows how the nationwide demographic views the importance of healthcare.
“Our mission is to provide a comprehensive, convenient, and affordable healthcare solution in pursuit to making it more accessible to Filipinos and even globally, around the world. We want to connect patients to doctors wherever they are through convenience and affordable pricing until they get well,” shared Kitika managing director and co-founder Jerome Sebastian.
Users can simply download the mobile application which is now live at the Playstore, sign up, select a subscription plan depending on how many family/non-family members will also be registered, and directly consult an available doctor 24×7 through the platform. When the platform receives a chat, call, or callback request from the users, registered nurses will be providing initial assessment then proceed to a licensed doctor’s initial medical impression.
Even lab results can be transmitted to the platform and by the end of Q4 this year, their new feature for medicine delivery is also set to go live. The service can be likened to an e-commerce platform but for healthcare. This allows a more better control for Filipinos in choosing their healthcare providers based on pricing, among others. Consultations with specialists like dermatologists and the like will also be available soon.
