To seek medical help for a minor illness, you often need to take half day off as you know there is no escape from endless waiting – you have to wait to see a doctor, and you have to wait to fill your prescription. Thanks to technological advancements, all these time-consuming steps may soon become history.
 

Waiting is definitely an intimidating element over the course of receiving medical attention. If you are visiting a doctor during a peak time such as the flu season, you could also be anxious to become infected during the long waits. As pointed out by Ringo Ng, Managing Director, Consumer Group of HKT, this pain point in healthcare had prompted the development of the remote medical consultation platform DrGo.

Innovating medical consultation to meeting market demand

Imagine you have this handy mobile app. You can book your consultation on your phone, enjoy video consultation at the comfort of your home, and then have your prescription medications and sick leave certificate delivered to your door step within a few hours. Is this kind of revolutionary medical consultation not more personalized? This is exactly how DrGo is delivering its service.

Ng added, “On top of eliminating unnecessary waiting, this new medical consultation model reaches out to those who would otherwise refrain from visiting a clinic.” From now on, a consultation may only take some 10 minutes to complete. Close contact with other patients can also be avoided and there would be much less to worry about. This is particularly convenient for patients who need to attend frequent follow-ups.

Raising the bar for quality healthcare

According to Ng, the quality of healthcare is also expected to improve with technologyenabled stay-at-home consultations. He quoted high blood pressure as an example. Patients can now measure their blood pressure at home every day and upload the relevant readings to cloud data storage. This data log may give doctors a much fuller picture than a one-off reading obtained through traditional means. Moreover, an elder’s health conditions can now be conveniently retrieved by his / her family. As highlighted by Ng, the platform’s service may also be applicable to emotions management. Patients often find it easier to open up when they could talk to their doctors in a familiar environment.

Certainly, online consultation is not a onesize- fits-all solution. Ng explained that the service would require patients to first answer some specific questions to provide the doctor with some essential information before any online consultation begins. He reckoned that online consultation can already help to relieve some pressure of the medical system. It also helps patients to receive better quality care. One could say a win-win situation is achieved.

Seize the moment and don’t delay

Ng frankly commented that the current pandemic is indeed helping to promote their service. It is understandable that the public is anxious about the risk of exposing themselves to the coronavirus when they intend to see a doctor. It is in fact a very good time to launch an online consultation platform.

Ng elaborated that HKT, the parent company of DrGo, has a large customer base and has been a household name in Hong Kong. There is reliable support in logistics and data, which could be very assuring for people seeking medical help. In the area of prescription medication delivery, DrGo’s delivery partner will normally deliver directly to your door within 4 hours. Ng candidly shared that all these could increase their costs, but that is the price well worth paying for premium remote healthcare service.