You can now consult a doctor or pharmacist without taking a single step out of your house, thanks to digital health platform and local startup, MyDoc.
You can now consult a doctor or pharmacist without taking a single step out of your house, thanks to digital health platform and local startup, MyDoc. By partnering with doctors and also Guardian pharmacists, MyDoc is able to provide telemedicine services such as a virtual clinic and online prescriptions. Consultation can take place through various means, including instant messaging and video consultations.
MyDoc’s latest feature will also allow employees to apply for a medical certificate (MC) online. This means you can be issued with a sick note right after seeing a doctor via video consultation. The thought of not having to spend any time queuing at a polyclinic or doctor’s practice sure sounds very attractive.
But don’t get too happy just yet…
Because this service isn’t available to everyone. In order to minimize the risk of individuals misusing the feature, currently, this service is only available for enterprises. Working with corporate partners will allow both MyDoc and the enterprise to agree on the standards of a digital MC. Digital copies can be sent directly to the HR department (goodbye to submitting MCs manually!) and employers can track each employee’s MC days and usage, thus saving time and improving efficiency for employers, employees, and even the doctors.
Not meant to be a replacement
Co-founder and CEO, Dr. Snehal Patel said that the services of MyDoc are not meant to be a substitute for existing medical services offered by health professionals. Instead, it aims to complement healthcare infrastructure and to ease its current resource strains.
In recent years, Singapore has witnessed high bed occupancy rates at our hospitals – a situation that is known as ‘bed crunch’. This is due to the fact that we have an aging population and many elderly require longer hospital stays. Another contributing factor is that Singaporeans are making unnecessary visits to the A&E. As a result, waiting times have increased, and resources for those in actual need of emergency care and hospital beds have been reduced. These factors point to a need for self-care solutions that can reduce unnecessary trips to the emergency rooms.
Privacy concerns?
MyDoc also features secure and efficient information sharing between healthcare providers and their patients. For example, if you have done a screening at a clinic, you would not need to collect your medical report physically. The clinic and your doctor will be able to provide the relevant results and information via the health-tech platform. Test results, follow-up consultations, and appointment bookings can also be done through MyDoc.
However, as with any health-tech services, privacy is an important factor as the information about our health can be very sensitive. In response to this, Dr. Patel said that MyDoc works in compliance with Singapore’s data privacy protection requirements, and the sharing of data through MyDoc with healthcare providers is strictly opt-in.
The start of something useful
Born from the need to simplify access and delivery of healthcare services for both providers and patients, MyDoc could prove to be useful for people of all ages, including young people. Many people in their 20s prefer to self-medicate with the medicine that they already have for common illnesses. By making it easier for them to receive a consultation from the doctor, it might just encourage them to seek proper medical attention.
It is reassuring to know that in today’s age, there is always a healthcare professional available to consult. Instead of pouring through the potential diagnoses on WebMD and scaring ourselves thinking that we’re going to die from a chesty cough, we can have genuine medical advice from a trusted healthcare professional regardless of where we are.