104 | theceomagazine.com
EMPOWERING
CONSUMERS
A central part of the industry shake-up
is a levelling of the information
playing field between health
professionals and patients.
HealthEngine, for instance, is
an online booking tool and
directory that allows patients to
organise appointments online.
During the past seven years, the
Australian-based company has ballooned from a
home-based business to a firm with 140 staff that has
raised around A$50 million from private backers.
At present, there are more than one million
consumers using HealthEngine every month, making it
one of the country’s most popular healthcare apps.
The company’s founder, Marcus Tan, a GP by
profession, says key to his success is giving consumers
more control over their health.
“Our platform streamlines the entire process by
enabling patients to book an appointment anytime,
anywhere, from their phone or desktop,” he explains.
“This not only saves them the time and frustration
trying to lock down an appointment over the phone but
also gives them greater flexibility and transparency.”
Matthew Donnellan, CEO of WhiteCoat, echoes
Tan’s sentiment, arguing that unlike most other sectors,
consumers have traditionally been in a weak position
compared with sellers in the healthcare industry.
WhiteCoat, similar in concept to platforms like
TripAdvisor and Yelp, seeks to change this. It allows
patients to not only search, find and book with a
healthcare provider, but also to leave reviews.
Since 2013, the platform has experienced rapid
growth, with 70,000 medical providers listed across
40 different provider types. More than 250,000
patient reviews have been shared on the platform.
“Let’s allow consumers to treat health care in the
same way they treat ordering a car or a hotel room,
booking a flight or booking a table,” Donnellan says.
As the population ages and workers become
increasingly time-poor, WhiteCoat provides a
convenient and easy-to-use solution to shop around
for a suitable doctor, Donnellan says, describing
demand for the service as “insatiable”.
“Consumers can see whether the provider has
things like disabled access, whether they speak a
second language, what payment types they accept, and
the hours they operate,” he adds.
“In the context of a market where none of this has
been available, it’s a quantum leap.”GLOBAL SHAKE-UP
Tim Usherwood, Professor of General Practice at the
University of Sydney, says the use of Big Data to
empower consumers is one of the most significant
worldwide changes taking place in health care.
Giving patients the power to collect their own heath
data – and physicians the ability to access it – is showing
widespread benefit in disease surveillance, treatment
options, and promoting equal access to care, he says.
“Historically, healthcare access and delivery
depended on the patient and clinician being in the
same room at the same time,” Usherwood explains.
“Increasingly, this is not the case. Our systems will need
to evolve to support asynchronous interactions, and
consultations that are not face to face.”
The mental health sector, estimated to be worth
US$1 trillion annually, is also undergoing change due to
new technology, he adds.
Because psychologists and psychiatrists rarely
examine patients physically, Usherwood says many
firms have jumped in to provide online mental health
assessments and advice for consumers.
“We are seeing web-based applications that
support self-management of mental health problems
and substance abuse,” he says. “Increasingly, such
applications will complement care provided by mental
health professionals. It is important that suchCONSUMERS KEEN ON TECH
CONSUMERS INTERESTED IN USING ROBOTICS
AND DRONES AS MEDICATION ASSISTANCE FOR
CHRONIC DISEASE (40%); DISEASE DIAGNOSIS
ASSISTANCE (40%); DELIVERING LABORATORY
SAMPLES (38%); AND DISEASE DIAGNOSIS
REPLACEMENT (32%).