Telehealth solutions firm H3 Com launched Heal-C, a global online medical travel platform in Asia, to assist patients in connecting with certified medical professionals with just a few clicks.
Medical tourism is a growing industry with the Asian market worth US$ 7.79 billion in 2020, estimated to grow by 22.4 percent in 2025, reaching a valuation of US$ 19.87 billion. While travel restrictions and social distancing have hampered the industry, affordable healthcare is still a priority for many, leading to a search for alternatives to local medical consultation. The international health departments at hospitals around the world have also suffered, as medical tourism has seen a decline. This is where Heal-C looks to partner with such hospital departments around the world to provide an additional source of patients through online consultation and therefore, keeping them afloat amid uncertain times.
Coordinating travel between multiple countries is already a cumbersome ordeal before the pandemic struck and now, it has only been made worse. This has forced the acceleration of the global healthcare industry’s digitisation. As such, digital healthcare has seen a rise in Asia with Heal-C looking to be the solution – a convenient and user-friendly service for medical travellers to find out more about hospitals while borders are still on lockdown.
In addition to that, the Heal-C platform also helps Singaporeans with outbound digital medical tourism by providing a host of international hospitals and medical professionals to choose from when obtaining a second opinion on health-related matters. H3 Com plans to further expand its options of hospitals from more countries around the world in the coming months and in 2021.
“We are aware of the current challenges that plague hospitals around the world. Medical tourism is a massive industry and helping digitise it for a global audience is our ultimate goal with Heal-C. While we understand the limitations of online consultation, telehealth can still be useful for those seeking a second opinion on health-related matters from experienced medical professionals around the world. They can then better plan their destination for operations and surgeries when borders are once again open, keeping costs low.” said Alexander Mokretsov, Co-Founder of H3 Com.
Besides partnering with hospitals, the Heal-C website also provides a consolidated list of hospitals to choose from one, convenient platform. Details such as departments, operating hours and doctors on call are also displayed. Upon choosing the desired department and service, users can decide the date and time for the consultation. Payment can then be made online to confirm the booking, and all the user has to do is await their consultation date and time. For those wishing to travel for any medical procedures upon viewing that information, a list of guest services and facilities for each hospital are also made available.
According to a survey conducted by Mercer, 78 percent of respondents from Asian countries expressed their readiness in using digital technologies for healthcare services. This statistic will pave the way for more innovations in digital healthcare such as Heal-C to enter the Asian market, serving as a basic medical consultation digital platform. With information and medical consultations provided and verified by certified doctors from across the region, H3 Com currently partners with various health institutions including 11 hospitals from South Korea, India, and Taiwan, with more to be added in due time. [APBN]