Online medical consultations: Oladoc shares its story

Telehealth in Pakistan has rapidly gained popularity and peaked during Covid -19. The trend did not die after lockdowns were lifted. 

Telehealth has continued to thrive as there are patients who choose consulting doctors online rather than in clinics.

Telehealth has provided a great opportunity for practitioners to provide their services to interior and remote regions of the country, making quality medicine accessible for more people. 

Gone are the days, when patients have to travel to the city to consult a professional doctor when they can do so right from their own homes comfortably. 

Technology has played a great role in connecting the two together, because with just a simple thing as a smartphone, doctor consultation has been made convenient. Just last year in October, the Sindh Assembly approved a telehealth bill 2021, that required healthcare professionals to register and be called ‘Registered Medical Practitioners’ (RMP). The bill aimed to facilitate, enhance and improve access to healthcare using distant telehealth platforms, and ease the shortage of healthcare workers.
There are a couple of telehealth platforms formed in Pakistan to provide the very services, and connect the practitioner and patient together conveniently. 

Oladoc is one of the few platforms that have rapidly gained popularity in the nation, housing well-known reputable doctors from various field professions, and providing a well-designed app with essential features to make doctor consultation easy. 

Co-founded by two brothers, Arif Zuberi and Abid Zuberi, Oladoc empowers patients by making healthcare affordable, accessible, and transparent. 

Oladoc came about when one of the founders, Arif Zuberi, had trouble getting an appointment with a paedetrician for his son. The process of booking a consultation appointment wasn’t as smooth as expected, thus the idea was brewed. 

“Ola” means hello in Spanish, “doc” means doctor hence the name oladoc. When a patient goes to visit the doctor for an appointment it is a common practice to greet them by saying “hello doctor!” so the name is pretty relatable for patients in this regard, revealed Zuberi while speaking to The Express Tribune. 

Oladoc makes healthcare affordable and accessible by offering discounts on appointment consultations. 

"The doctor profiles on our app/website include the doctor’s qualification, wait time, patient reviews, and consultation fees to make the booking process easier and transparent for the patients. Our app/website is easy to use and patients can book appointments for in-person or video consultations without any hassle. "