Medbit plans to cash in especially on recurrent consultations. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Medbit, an e-health mobile app and web platform co-founded by
Richard Okenye, is rapidly gaining popularity. Through the app, patients
can book appointments with doctors in Nairobi and its environs to
reduce overcrowding and long waits in health facilities.
The
app features a map that shows doctors’ locations, their profiles, the
time slots available as well as a messaging feature where patients can
chat with doctors. Medbit also has a platform which prompts patients to
pay for consultation in advance via M-Pesa, debit card or credit card.
“If you have a complication there is a map that comes up which shows you doctors that are nearest to you.
“You can also search for the doctor that you want or a specific clinic or hospital,” said Mr Okenye.
Since its inception in January, over 4,500 users have downloaded
the application. Sixty doctors are active and 1,000 users have made
bookings through the application.
. Once you have
clicked on that doctor you can see their profile. If that is the fit
doctor for you, you book directly from the platform,” says Richard
Okenye, one of the founders of Medbit.
Both patients
and doctors can sign up for Medbit and Medbit Pro respectively using
their social media or email accounts. However, doctors must first submit
their license provided by the Kenya Medical Board to the team. The team
then approves the license through the Ministry of Health portal.
“Once
doctors are on the platform they write down their profile that is a
short bio statement, what specialty do they have and where they
practice. They also provide a Google pin location and create time slots.
They also list all the services that they offer so that the patients
can book whatever they want,” says Mr. Okenye
After
completing a two-month trial, doctors pay Sh2,499 monthly and an
additional Sh100 for every booking made through the platform.
Medbit plans to cash in especially on recurrent consultations.
“Big
hospitals already have a type of digital system that they are using to
manage their services and they have enough revenue but patients are not
able to know whether a doctor is booked,” says Mr. Okenye
“With
Medbit, if I am coming at 1p.m., I know I am the only one the doctor is
going to see so I don’t have to come and second guess whether he is
around or he is at lunch or on a medical leave,” he adds.
Medbit says both doctors and patients are anxious about privacy, especially because of the application’s messaging feature.
“Our
privacy policy and the technology that is on the application does not
allow us to see what goes on in the application. Medbit does not see
anything that goes on the platform except notifications on transactions
that are going through the platform and the bookings that are going
through there. We don’t see user profiles. Whoever the user books or
where they are, we do not know,” says Mr. Okenye.
He
adds that Medbit uses the same encryption key as many technological
companies such as Google, Twitter and Instagram which ensures they do
not see anything that goes on in the platform.
Apart
from having launched the web platform this month, the Medbit team plans
to launch its iOS application within the next two months, and introduce a
technology into the platform that allows users use the application to
book appointments in low or no internet.
“There is an
SDK application that we will introduce on the application. It is
actually ready. It is just that we are still following around the
legalities and the partnerships with the guys operating networks,” says
Mr. Okenye.
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