From increasing mass access to quality healthcare to eliminating some expected expenses associated with in-person doctor visits, HealthTech is today paving the way for a major transformation within the global healthcare sector.
Bahrain is certainly no stranger to this evolving reality. The Kingdom has its own cohort of homegrown HealthTech startups committed to bringing safe and affordable healthcare to the masses. As the first telemedicine platform in Bahrain licensed by the National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA), Doctori has been at the forefront of this revolution.
We recently got in touch with Ahmed Mahmood, Co-Founder & CEO of Doctori to discuss various issues pertaining to the gradually growing Bahraini HealthTech market, as well as the startup’s roadmap for the broader region. Continue reading to get the deets about your new favorite platform!
The vision behind Doctori
Doctori offers a self-titled mobile app that enables patients to remotely connect with a licensed healthcare provider of their choice via video. Not only does the startup facilitate online consultations with doctors, but it also throws in quite a few other services into the mix. For example, the Doctori app, available for both iOS and Android devices, now helps patients receive medical prescriptions and electronic consultation reports post-consultation.
This is especially ideal in current times, as social distancing rules still apply and people are still concerned about going to hospitals with the ongoing pandemic. With Doctori, the only thing they need to move is their hand (okay, their mouth too to talk, but you get the picture!).
How does the Doctori app actually work for patients?
When you’re used to physical hospital visits, the virtual jump might feel odd at first. Not to stress, though, Doctori is quite easy to use for patients through these 5 simple steps:
- First of course you’ll need to download the app and create an account using your phone number.
- Enter the OTP (One-time password, in case you were wondering)sent to your phone and complete your profile (make sure to include your medical history for doctors to be able to assist you!)
- Choose your preferred package of e-visits and consultations, as well as your preferred method of payment (credit or debit card).
- View doctors and their specialization as you require, bearing in mind that each doctor is prompted and their rate is listed per 15 minutes consultation.
- Upon your selection, click on ‘Consult Now’ and determine your desired consultation time-period.
Also, don’t worry if you saw a red status indicator, that simply means that the doctor you clicked on is currently unavailable, and you can always opt to choose ‘notify me later’ to receive a notification once they’re online!
How can Doctors use Doctori?
Commonly speaking, for every patient, there’s a doctor; and today, for every doctor, there’s Doctori. If you’re interested in joining their skilled team of highly qualified medical professionals, you first have to send them an email over here.
Once you’re approved, here’s how to use the app in 4 steps:
- Download the app and create an account using your phone number.
- Enter the OTP (remember what this stands for?) sent to you and complete your profile.
- Set up your schedule by selecting your availability days (including your days off) and timings to-from.
- Upon your approval of patients, you can conduct your consultation sessions and produce medical reports.
Don’t hesitate to get in touch with the Doctori team if you had any additional questions on how to use the app over here.
NHRA’s role in Bahrain’s Telemedicine industry’s growth
As mentioned previously, Doctori is the first NHRA-approved telemedicine app in the Kingdom. So, naturally, we had to ask Ahmed how simple (or complicated) it was to acquire the regulatory license, as well as how supportive NHRA has been to startups.
This is what he had to say:
“We approached the NHRA back when there was no set infrastructure for telemedicine about 3 years ago and they have been completely supportive since. We worked in line with them to help build that infrastructure and create a platform that complies with the guidelines set forth.”
As for other Bahraini entities to have played a supportive role in Doctori’s growth so far, Ahmed specifically thanked Tamkeen for its SME financial support program, Flat6Labs Bahrain for its support throughout the company’s formative phases, and the Bahrain Entrepreneurship Award 2019 where Doctori won the title of the best microenterprise of the year. We’re hoping next time they’ll mention us 🙁
Expansion plans
With its grip on the Bahraini HealthTech market getting stronger every day, Doctori seems to be working on some ambitious growth strategy for the regional market.
Ahmed candidly told StartUp Bahrain that the startup was looking to expand not only into the GCC market but across all of MENA eventually.
“We currently have regular patients consulting our doctors from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Oman. Saudi is one of the first markets we intend on expanding to as it is a largely populated market with a great telehealth infrastructure.”
That being said, Doctori is currently busy setting up a company in Saudi Arabia so it can obtain all regulatory approvals necessary before providing the platform’s full spectrum of services. We’re quite excited to see Doctori’s growth, especially during times that truly require the existence of such a platform both technically and health-wise.
If you have any questions or thoughts about Doctori, feel free to reach out to StartUp Bahrain using any of our social media channels over at Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn!
