Southeast Asia is catching up to North America and Europe in terms of telehealth service uptake, albeit at a slower pace. This is due to the improved network connectivity throughout the region, as well as the population’s strong embrace of technology and digitalization. Having said that, a persistent issue in the current market is that consumers seek a quick, reasonable, and ubiquitous means to obtain healthcare without the hassles of an insurance application or the unpleasant surprises of walk-in outpatient rates.
Furthermore, most clients dislike the difficulties of paying and claiming. They just want peace of mind that they can consult a healthcare provider whenever they need to. With these issues in mind, VHGLOBAL created its telehealth platform to give a user-friendly and intuitive method of engaging a worldwide pool of healthcare professionals in a safe and unique digital ecosystem from anywhere and at any time. No insurance? No problem. The company distinguishes itself by implementing a proprietary healthcare database at the heart of its offering.
The company started as a social venture, empowering anyone anywhere in the globe to own and manage healthcare data. Patients can entirely own and control their health records using its innovative single custodian database concept. Instead of resting in several separate silos across multiple healthcare providers and locations, the data follows the individuals themselves. When necessary, they can selectively share relevant information with their healthcare providers without jeopardizing security or relinquishing ownership of the data. The healthcare database is unique in that it is a hybrid approach, combining both the patient’s personal health diary and formal information from healthcare providers. As a result, the data aggregate is always guaranteed to be complete, up-to-date, and reflective of a patient’s overall health. This is something that existing health information systems do not provide.
“We introduced a layer of service to this social enterprise by enrolling independent healthcare practitioners from the entire spectrum of healthcare including conventional medicine, mental health, allied health, and alternative medicine. These practitioners run their virtual clinics at their own leisure, eliminating the requirement for a physical location to generate revenue. Since we provide a borderless service, the entire global population now becomes their prospective client. Imagine Uber for healthcare, but without the geographic constraints to limit its serviceable region”, says Dr. Muhammad Asyraf, Co-Founder & Executive Director, VHGLOBAL.
Out-of-the-Box Approach
VHGLOBAL provides prepaid healthcare credits as a novel means of telehealth interaction.
The healthcare credits concept is similar to the telco prepaid model, wherein, you pre-purchase a fixed amount of credits, which are deducted when you teleconsult with a practitioner on the platform. This eliminates any discrimination against individuals who are denied insurance coverage due to underlying health conditions, and it is a great tool for businesses to ensure fair and instant outpatient healthcare coverage for their entire employee pool, without the hassles of underwriting and monthly premiums.
Any medical record submission or evidence required by HR can be filed immediately within the system by the practitioner, minimizing the danger of claims fraud or invalid medical certificates. Beyond the corporate sector, prepaid healthcare credits are beneficial to the tourism industry, providing tourists with peace of mind knowing that no matter where they are, the doctor of their choice is just a tap away. There’s no need to be concerned about the language barrier, unexpected fees, or unfamiliarity with foreign healthcare services.
“We use transparent ratings and review systems on our platform to ensure that the telehealth services delivered by our practitioners are of the highest quality. Patients can use this feature to evaluate prior patients’ experiences before selecting a practitioner. They can also view the practitioners’ profiles to learn about their specialization and expertise, language ability, qualifications, and more. This is only available through our digital platform, as no physical healthcare facility provides this level of transparency or empowers patients with the benefit of informed choice before initiating consultation,” highlights Dr. Asyraf. Furthermore, to ensure excellent service delivery, VHGLOBAL puts in place round-the-clock monitoring systems to ensure that no teleconsultation call goes unanswered.
Through a team of customer relationship specialists, VHGLOBAL engages with clients to understand their pain points and inconveniences. The team has unrivaled experience in devising bespoke solutions for clients, whether it be a comprehensive technical project deployment or simply the structuring of prepaid credits allocation. Customers with special telehealth needs are further catered to with additional software and hardware customization.
VHGLOBAL’s Vision Is To Transform ‘Reactive’ Healthcare To ‘Preventive’ Healthcare By Providing A Digital Ecosystem For The Global Population To Manage Their Medical Records & Engage With Healthcare Professionals In A Safe Environment
Robust Roadmap Ahead
VHGLOBAL is expanding to offer a more comprehensive healthcare solution to its client base. The company plans to start its e-Pharma services, which will allow customers to have their medication delivered to their doorstep following a teleconsultation session. VHGLOBAL is also looking into health informatics research with a number of tertiary institutions in order to capitalize on the healthcare database architecture that it has in place.
“We are collaborating with various state health departments to provide telehealth services for the rural community, which will enrich many lives and give an immediate, meaningful impact without breaking the bank. These telehealth projects involve smart health monitoring devices, which will be natively integrated into our platform. They enable real-time remote patient monitoring for vital signs like blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, oxygen saturation and blood glucose. Additionally, even more advanced data like ECG, heart and lung auscultation sounds, as well as visualization of the ear, nose, throat and skin can also be captured remotely”, concludes Dr. Asyraf.
Dr. Muhammad Asyraf Mohammad Naim, Executive Director
Dr. Asyraf holds an International Baccalaureate from Geneva, Switzerland, and an MBBS degree from Manipal, India. Having pivoted to Digital Health, his involvement has been heavily industrydriven, taking on the role of Healthcare Lead for the Malaysia Smart Industry Association and a Member of the Association of Digital Health Malaysia. Internationally, he is a Full Member of the Royal Society for Public Health (UK) and a Certified Digital Transformation Professional (Singapore). He is a strong proponent of leveraging technology to make healthcare accessible and affordable for everyone across the globe.
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