When Christopher Tan’s mother passed away some two years ago from liver cirrhosis brought on by Hepatitis C, he had a nagging feeling that he and his family did not do enough to save her, and this led him to co-found Tab-a-doctor, a portal that enables users to look for a suitable doctor and even seek free advice.

Looking back on those dark days, Tan said he and his family had difficulties finding the right hospital, never mind a better doctor, to address his mother’s health issues despite having access to the Internet.

Relying on word-of-mouth recommendations from family and friends, Tan and his siblings did find a doctor, but they feel that they could have done better.

“It is one of our biggest regrets to this day. We all have this feeling that we did not get the right doctor,” said Tan, adding that Tab-a-doctor came about because he did not want anyone to go through what he and his family experienced.

“Wouldn’t it be great if you could talk to several doctors before making an informed decision?” he asked.

“It seems you can find anything online. There are numerous websites and applications if you are looking for a hotel, a home or even a new smartphone, but there’s very limited options when it comes to looking for a doctor.

“Doctors are not allowed to advertise their services, and there’s limited information about them,” Tan noted.

Launched in Singapore in January 2013, Tab-a-doctor initially focused on recruiting doctors before hitting the market.

“We focused on getting their (doctors’) profiles. We wanted a more detailed one compared to what was usually stated in the hospital’s website.

“They could also state their qualifications and what procedures they specialised in. Patients can arm themselves with these information before making an informed decision,” said Tan.

Tab-a-doctor is not just a glorified medical listing site, however. It is a community where you can engage with doctors to access free advice, compare profiles, get price quotations, hospital locations, book appointments and arrange to be admitted.

The community has been growing, and response has been overwhelming – mainly due to the Indonesian market.

The Indonesian healthcare system is rated as one of the poorest in the region with infrastructure being sparse and of low quality, and the number of medical health professionals per population is also low.

Add in disparity in wealth and access to healthcare between its people, and you have one of the world’s largest consumer market just waiting to be tapped.

“Even though we launched in Singapore some two years ago, and Malaysia shortly after, our major customers are Indonesians as they have always been looking abroad for medical services.

“Approximately 70% of Indonesia’s medical tourists come to Malaysia for treatment,” said Tan.

“We help Indonesians find specialists in Singapore and Malaysia. They can chat with these doctors online via a private messaging system or have a face-to-face video call,” Tan added.

To date, Tab-a-doctor has on its listing some 500 medical specialist from Singapore and over 600 from Malaysia. As they do not list general practitioners, these numbers are quite impressive.

With more than 37 hospitals to choose from, Tab-a-doctor is already revolutionising traditional medical practices.

The right antidote

Even though most of the services are free, Tab-a-doctor is looking to build a lucrative business.

“We want it to be free for the user. When it comes to medical services, one should not be charged for asking a question and a patient deserves the best answer,” explained Tan.

For now, users can post questions for free and, depending on the replies that he or she might get, a decision can be made on which doctor they would like to meet.

Tab-a-doctor does not charge the user for setting up an appointment, but the hospital pays a small administration fee for the referral.

This month, the company will roll out its video conferencing system and instant messaging service. These services will be charged back to the customer but Tan remained tight-lipped about how much they would be.

Having started with a self-funded working capital of S$300,000 (RM786,000) that all three partners coughed up, Tab-a-doctor is looking to raise another US$1mil to facilitate their expansion plans.

Next stop: China

Tab-a-doctor is currently servicing some 50,000 users per month with the bulk of it being Indonesians, but the company has set its sight on another consumer giant.

“China is a huge market for medical tourism. If we look at Beijing and Shanghai alone, the sheer number of people looking for medical services is extraordinary. We can tap into this market the same way we tapped into the Indonesian market - using local language - and bring them to South-East Asia,” revealed Tan.

According to a report from Hurun, a research firm tracking the spending habits of China’s wealthy, a sizable chunk of the 97 million trips made by residents in 2013 were in search of better or more affordable medical care overseas.

Most went to Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan, while the wealthy elite preferred Switzerland and the US for medical tourism.

According to China Jiangsu Network, some enterprising Chinese travel agencies are taking advantage of the trend, now offering medical tourism packages to Japan that include five-star hotels, fine cuisine and airfare.

“We can offer them Singapore and Malaysia as one of the top medical tourism destination in the world,” said Tan.

The company is also looking to list traditional Chinese medicine practitioners in the near future as it is a growing segment within the medical field.

Although Tab-a-doctor says it is not breaking any rules and is working closely with hospitals to ensure that everything is above board, similar app companies in the US are being looked at by regulators. According to published reports, the US Food and Drug Administration will focus on regulating mobile medical apps that are intended to be used as an accessory to an already-regulated medical device.

In South-East Asia, apps such as Tab-a-doctor have been on regulators’ blind spot so far, but it is only a matter time before the authorities start to lay down the rules.

Source: The Star