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COVID-19 kickstarts homecare innovation trend among healthtech firms
Health tech start-ups in Indonesia are poised to focus on homecare innovations over the year after they saw major success with online consultation services, which gained widespread popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Health tech start-up apps are shown on a screen on Monday. Such start-ups are expected to focus on developing homecare services. (JP/Norman Harsono)
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ndonesia’s health tech industry is poised to focus on homecare innovations in response to the rising demand for remote medical services as public activity restrictions (PPKM) continue and medical facilities operate at near capacity.
HaloDoc and Sehati TeleCTG are among the start-ups introducing new telehealth innovations ranging from online bookings for immunizations for children to producing handheld medical devices. These innovations seek to replicate the popularity of online doctor consultations, which has become a standard offering in the industry.
Halodoc, which recently scored US$80 million in Series C funding, announced on July 29 its collaboration with a clinic to provide at-home immunization services for children, such as influenza, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTaP) shots.
“So, parents don’t have to delay their child's vaccinations amid the current social restrictions,” Halodoc chief product officer Alfonsius Timboel said in a written statement, adding that the program was only available in Jakarta but further expansion was in the pipeline.
The company was also developing a feature that would allow users to gauge their risk of getting diabetes and heart disease. Halodoc plans to use advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the prediction model for such risk scores.
Alfonsius went on to say that the key for healthcare digitalization was to integrate online and offline services such as digital health records. Doctors can then use the historical data to determine risk factors, intervening in health problems before they arise.
“We are confident in the bright future of healthtech,” he said, adding that most consumers were still using telemedicine primarily for online consultations and COVID-19-related appointments.
