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Q: Previously, you have mentioned that 40 percent of users preferred face-to-face consultations. How has this changed following the pandemic? A: The number of virtual consultations is rising. From April 2020, which is when we initiated online appointments, to January 2021, we registered more than 3 million appointments. Today, people are in the early stage of starting to consume healthcare online, building word of mouth. Also, people see that these consultations are 20 percent more economical, which contributes to their mass adoption. When people realize the advantages and benefits of using the service, they continue using it. Every month, about 4.5 million people book an appointment and they return for another one. Q: How have Doctoralia’s services changed to better address the needs of patients during the pandemic? A: Regarding consultations, we were focusing on our video quality so that it requires very little bandwidth to reproduce a goodquality image. Doctors said, however, that it is key to be able to send prescriptions, otherwise patients cannot purchase their medications. We moved away from video improvements and focused on prescriptions, which has been a great success. Doctors also asked that they be able to share their screen, so we developed this feature that allows them to share videos and figures with the
Ricardo Moguel
patient. We also developed a record-taking function so the doctor can take notes about the patient. After implementing these three changes, the level of usability increased and more users joined. We now have over 10,000 doctors in Mexico from more than 70
Country Manager of Doctoralia
different specialties. Q: What barriers are preventing the broader adoption of telemedicine?
Telemedicine Gains Ground in Mexico
A: The patients themselves are among the barriers because they continue to think that they need to see the doctor face to face or they will not be cured. However, there is a great deal of data that suggests that a visit to the doctor is not always necessary. Telemedicine not only optimizes consultation time but also reduces costs and minimizes the possibility of exposure to infection. In addition, it widens the scope of services, as doctors can reach remote locations while patients have access to more specialists. Due to the issue of mistrust, we validate all doctors’ credentials through a third party that certifies their identity. We need to do a great deal of work on public policy to regulate the use of electronic prescriptions in Mexico, allowing, for example, electronic prescriptions for controlled drugs. There are other countries where online consultations are reimbursed to patients or where the first point of contact is through a digital consultation that results in a first diagnosis. In Mexico, this is not the case yet. Once telemedicine is seen as a valid and regulated option, within a year we might experience a boom as an organization. At the end of the day, it is the patient who wins, which is what we are looking for. Q: How does Doctoralia handle data protection of its patients and doctors? A: As part of a European company, we need to comply with strict data protection guidelines. We use servers in the US and we have many security filters when hiring new partners. Security
