In order to tackle the scenario in India where the doctor-patient ratio stands at 0.7:1000 against the advocated World Health Organization (WHO) figure of 1:1000, far below than China (1.9), UK (2.8), and US (2.5) per 1000 population, Lybrate - India’s first and largest healthcare communication and delivery platform has enabled users and doctors to talk using their mobile phones.
Founded by former professionals from Facebook and Snapdeal in 2013, more than 80,000 doctors and health experts from varied branches of medicine from across India are connected to millions of patients through Lybrate. It empowers patients to get the right advice at the right time and allows doctors to touch more lives and help them with their extensive knowledge. With such strong network, Lybrate acts as the world's largest online Out Patient Department (OPD).
India rank 67th out of 133 developing countries in its doctor to population ratio.
To tackle the situation, the Narendra Modi government has taken the unique initiative of digitizing healthcare and making the basic necessity available to the masses through mHealth, a space buzzing with startups like Lybrate.
Lybrate's vision is in line with the government to make healthcare accessible to all. Patients can ask a query from a pool of over 80,000 doctors from multiple specialties for free. They can also seek detailed and in-depth opinions from a doctor of their choice by paying fees. In addition, the users have access to Health Feed in the form of tips being posted by doctors, which aims at keeping people fit and healthy.
“The scenario pertaining to healthcare remains grim in India despite much effort. The doctor-patient ratio in the country is much lower than that advocated by the WHO. However, with the advent of technology and its spread to the healthcare sector, this gap is decreasing and mHealth will further help bridge the gap. With Lybrate app, we are making doctors to attend to more patients and help monetize their unpaid time. The app effectively multiplies their presence to different geographical locations. This is how remarkably technology is sprucing up healthcare and the future lies here,” said Saurabh Arora, CEO and co-founder, Lybrate.
With the growth in the number of mobile Internet users in India, which stands at 240 million today, there remains a tremendous scope for the growth of mobile medical services in the country. Lybrate alone has around 100,000 patients visiting the platform.
“mHealth will make it a lot easier for people to communicate to medical experts, as also find doctors and book appointments. This will make healthcare amply accessible and affordable, changing the whole scenario. The communication platform also overcomes effectively the issue of self-medication, especially in urban areas, where they take root due to factors such as lack of time, unwillingness to visit the doctor for minor ailments and carelessness,” said Arora.
Currently, the mHealth space in India is in a very nascent stage. However, the penetration of internet services and emergence of smart phones will catapult its growth. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the mHealth sector will become Rs.3000 crore market by 2017. The sector holds immense potential and mHealth is set to become an important and indispensable part of Indian healthcare delivery system.