Doctor on call

Dr Ajay Nair,managing director of mHealth Venture India Pvt Ltd,and Gautam Ivatury,founder of Single Point Partners that deals in global investment and advisory firm in the mobile services space,have set up MeraDoctor — a phone health service to serve the medical needs of people.

The service,which has found its feet in countries like the UK,Australia,Kenya and Bangladesh,started here in April and caters to 900 families so far. MeraDoctor also provides healthcare consultations to the underprivileged.

Nair,who did his medicine from JJ Medical College and graduated in public health from Harvard,says people generally avoid seeing a doctor until his/her health is seriously affected. “In India,the doctor-patient relationship is that of raja-praja (king and subject). People wait for him in his darbaar,which is the doctor’s clinic,and when they see him they pay money and get 5-10 minutes of his time. Therefore,people tend to avoid going to a doctor on the first instance of feeling unwell. One of the ideas was to give accessibility to people so that they need not plan their day around seeing a doctor and can take consultation in the comfort of their homes.”

The idea of starting something in Mumbai germinated in Kenya,where Nair and Ivatury were working on a similar project. “Gautam asked me if I was open to do something different in healthcare in Bangladesh. But I being from Mumbai wanted to do something for the city I grew up in,and that’s how we got started here,” Nair says.

A three-month subscription for the service is provided at Rs 300,and that includes unlimited phone consultations for as many as six people. “We have been very nominal on the subscription and the number of people who can avail the service. A household normally has four members,so this is not limited to just members of the family. One can seek advice even if they’re not part of the family.”

Ivatury says the doctors are trained and are supported by internationally accepted phone health protocols that help provide accurate and best medical care.

“We have strict quality standards and ensure that doctors spend all the time it takes to guide patients and help them resolve a particular health problem; something that we don’t see at a doctor’s clinic. Clinical performance is monitored for quality on a weekly basis and doctors who perform badly are let go.”

MeraDoctor has seven licensed MBBS doctors on their board now,who take calls from subscribers from 8 am to 10 pm. “Our plan is go 24×7 by the year-end; as yet we don’t have that much volume to keep the doctors waiting day and night,” Nair says.

They have also entered into tieups with several NGOs to provide healthcare. Nair,who has worked with those living with HIV in Dharavi and Kamathipura earlier,says their NGO and Community Organisation partners now include Sneha,Operation Asha,The Humsafar Trust and Samhita Community Development Services.

“The subscriptions for these organisations are free or fixed at a very nominal Rs 100.”