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How do you like the concept of a whatsappdoctor?

By Dhruv kumar on 21 Comments / 5126 views

Hi Fellow Rodinhoods,

I am proud to be a rodinhood. Let me quickly tell you about my company and myself.

I am the founder of a start-up called icliniq.com and started working on this from 2010. We basically solve health issues. Icliniq is a platform where one can get their health issues solved online. We are bootstrapped and being a first time entrepreneur it took me some time to understand how icliniq can be positioned (online doctor consultation was also an unexplored concept). This was the first article about icliniq. –> https://bit.ly/1vpGhZy. And the most recent press mention is here. –> https://bit.ly/1uwmHNh or https://bit.ly/1qKt6wR. 

Now are planning for a concept called ‘whatsapp a doctor’ where one can simply whatsapp their health issue to a number and they will get a reply with the solution for the issue. This is the concept. (Icliniq basically has a good process and an excellent network of doctors to solve any health issue. We want to use the supply chain of icliniq on whatsapp doctor).

You will be whatsapping an issue to a number and you will be replied with a link to pay. After you complete your payment, you would get a reply for your health issue. Would you like something like this? Would you use such a concept? What other features you would need as value addition? How do you think we can enhance the experience for you?  Need all your opinions on this. 

Come on guys. Please help me in refining this concept. You would get a lot of karma. 😀 And I will surely mention about you guys on the portal. 🙂

*****

UPDATE JUNE 25, 2015 –  .Whatsapp a Doctor is live –  Thank you guys!

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21 Comments

  1. The first thing that comes to my mind is the revenue model? If you are planning to solve the patients queries via whatsapp, it’s very important to figure out how you are going to charge the patients. How about the satisfaction of the patients on the advice provided and if god forbid something goes wrong then the legal implications will be well you know what I mean ! I am not trying to discourage you. Just pinned down my first reaction after the reading the post.

    The success for this idea rests on the trust and the confidence in people’s minds that the advice they will get from your panel of doctors(considering they will be paying upfront) will be accurate, useful, timely as well as cost effective. I am sure the cost part can be controlled. The main aspect that needs to be concentrated upon is trust and effectiveness of the advice.

  2. nice..

    question

    how will people discover the service?

    whatsapp worked coz it was a messaging service and everyone messages

    Shouldnt you think of being a CHANNEL on whatsapp (like Line has Games, Stickers etc) vs. being the platform itself?

  3. Dear Dhruv

    Your comment “And I will surely mention about you guys on the portal.”    almost made me not respond to your Invite-to-comment. Anyway, here goes: (I have NOT seen the two links that you gave. Just focussing on whasapp bit)

    a. If I am in need of an opinion from a doc/ expert (I am presuming that the number you give will be of the relevant expert), I would want to know more about their credentials before I commit my money on them So you need to bring that element of quality assurance in.

    b. Often consultations are accompanied by sharing reports etc. While with the help of a camera I may be able to get images of my test reports, often experts will want to see originals of Xrays, Scans, MRIs, Angiograms etc than the reports.

    c. In your model, are you seeing a one-time transaction with an expert? Be aware that the situation may need multiple rounds of consulting or followup actions. I am sure you are factoring this in.

    d. You may want a “referral/ consulting” to include phone / call based conversations too. Often there may be a need of a to-and-fro between the consultant and the patient (and phone conversations may be a better option there).

    As an aside, I am trying hard to think of what distinct advantage a whatsapp option will give me (as a patient) over your online offering. I see only marginal benefits when I am not near a comp.

    good luck.

    NB

  4. On an upfront payment bit, when we go to consult a doc, often payments are made upfront. But yes, credibility / fame is crucial.

  5. Hi,

    Have you heard for Figure1? Check it out. You should get some good ideas. There are others solving similar problems and you might be able to elarn from them.

    Also, if you are serious about doing this long term, I highly recommend you dont name your company with any derivative of the name “Whatsapp” 

  6. Whatsapp got Channels? (curious)

  7. Hi Arpit,

    Thanks for the reply on my doubt. I took some time to contemplate what you said. 

    We are planning to solve the payment issue by using a link based payment service. There are various providers for it. Infact, revenue is the last thing in our mind as we want to get the model right on whatsapp. 🙂

    And regarding the quality of answers, we have a process @ icliniq.com for getting the best answers. The process involves cross checking of every answer by our moderation team (who are doctors). In fact before we give real queries to doctors to answers, we give them simulated health queries to understand how they answer. Based on their skills, we allocate them specific queries. And on the legal part, @icliniq, we have been telling our patients, this has to be treated as a second opinion and we try legal immunity in that way. This is to protect us and the doctors as that’s how the healthcare companies work. But we do have a moral and ethical responsibility. The health of every individual who uses our platforms are treated as our own

    At icliniq, we actually get users to post their health issues as free queries for the first time to build trust with them(we pay a small incentive to the doctors for this). Then for further follow-ups and queries, they actually pay us. 🙂 We have 50000 registered users on icliniq all around the world due to this. So we already solved the quality, trust and effectiveness with icliniq. 🙂

    Do you think we should do the same with users here? Also (once you trust us) would you be interested in a subscription based service or pay per query?

  8. Hi Alok, 

    Thanks for the reply. I would be happy if we get to be a channel on whatsapp. 🙂 And icliniq is already a platform. 

    We want to leverage whatsapp due to the ease of virality. Let me tell you why we think we want to do it this way. Do tell us if we are wrong.

    We observed (from various analytics) that the existence of our icliniq app —> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.orane.icliniq&hl=en and icliniq.com got spread mostly through whatsapp. People did not take to use facebook or twitter to tell their friends about icliniq. We asked some of our regular users and found that they did not want a large number of people (as its more open on facebook and twitter) to know that they had a health issue. Instead they took to whatsapp to tell their friends. We understood that health (and also icliniq) is something really personal to these people 🙂 

    We are heavily relying on PR for whatsappdoctor to be known to people. And of course all the people will have their icliniq account created simultaneously and they will also be able to see their health history on icliniq.com as well. We intend to sync icliniq and whatsapp. 

    Please tell me your honest opinion on this. We are debuting our new UI for icliniq soon too.

  9. Also please have a look at this —> https://www.icliniq.com/qa/medical-questions-answers/medical-conditions/earbuds/can-i-use-earbuds-to-remove-ear-wax. This is actually a real query on icliniq. Our moderators (doctors team) curated it. They remove all personal information before they publish it. You can see the quality of the answers at icliniq.com here.The same quality of answers will come on whatsappdoctor too.

  10. Hi Neeraj Bhai,

    I sincerely apologize if my comment sent a wrong signal to you. Maybe I should have posted it in a more outreaching manner. The real meaning is that we want to have a dedicated page and credit people who help us in refining the model. Really sorry. 

    Answers :

    a) Good point. Would it be enticing if once you post a query, we send you links of doctor profiles for you to choose from(doctor profiles on icliniq)? You would be able to see their reviews also there. 

    b) Yes. All these files can be sent and it will automatically sync with an icliniq account created. If you have it on your email, you can just send it to whatsappdoctor@icliniq.com and it would sync with your query to the doctor and he can reply you. Does it seem good?

    c) No. We definitely know multiple transactions occur and intend to price it accordingly. Do you think pay per query can work or subscriptions will work?

    d) Yes. We intend do that too. :). Am really thankful to you for thinking through it. The whatsapp option is merely a simple way of accessing a doctor. Period. Using icliniq.com directly is still the best and comprehensive option. But whatsapp option for icliniq could possibly be a quicker way. 🙂

  11. Hi Nameer Podnis,

    Thanks for the info about Figure1. 

    Point taken. We want to remain as icliniq but be synonymous with the term whatsappdoctor to leverage whatsapp as a platform due to its ease of access. Or do you think that we can start saying icliniq on whatsapp, icliniq on hike.. instead of a derivative?

  12. I think, giving free service for 1 month & ₹60/year as subscription charges should work…

  13. Here are some additional points I think you can look at:

    1. Trust: Most people think “Doctor-Patient” trust is quite important here. However, if you look at Yahoo Answers, it has a substantial number of questions seeking medical advice (which is lent on the site as well). If it works for faceless users, it can work for doctors with a photo and record to show.

    2. Motivation: When someone is in front of a laptop/desktop, they can articulate their problem in detail and attach their report scans as well. But why would people do it on WhatsApp? For quick answers to quick questions that come into your mind while you’re traveling or not near the computer. Or to continue the conversation with the doctor you earlier had via laptop. But are you planning to offer a “fast answer” kind of service? If yes, there’s a clear match to the need. I noticed your website has “Phone a Doctor” and “realtime” consultation services mentioned. So you already have this.

    3. Package Options: Can you add this as a “package” to your existing users? “Get 3 Q&A free on WhatsApp” (whether a question belongs to an existing Q&A thread or different can be decided by your staff).

    4. Usage: Do the users use you a as continuous service platform, or do they use you as a doctor-discovery platform (where they would get directly in touch with the doctor once the comfort sets in)? Your existing user base’s experience would tell you.

    Hope this help.

  14. Neeraj is bang on with most of my concerns with this idea. No one would/should trust anonymous advice and it lacks interactivity (instant gratification) if your team of doctors searches for perfect answer which may take anywhere from 5-15 mins to reply.

    Those questions aside. Want to add one more thing.

    With every query, you are giving payment link. Learn it from ecommerce industry that you are creating a barrier in smooth transaction and everytime people will be forced to think whether it is worth asking or not. People may drop and may not interact freely. Try to solve this problem via prepaid wallets, whether people feel secure in doing that is another problem to solve. I strongly feel this is how you can solve the problem.

  15. Hi Harshit,

    Doctors on our platform need to be paid for every query they answer. So Rs.60 per year would not be possible. 🙁

  16. Hi Malik,

    Point Blank. You have gone in depth about the concept of icliniq and whatsappdoctor 🙂

    1. Your answer regarding ‘trust’ is actually a validation of our idea. And we have more clarity on the product design now due to your stress on pics of doctors. Thank you. 

    2. Yes. It will be a fast reply service with the deadline being 1 hour. 🙂 I should have mentioned it in the starting of the discussion. Would you be interested if the reply is in 1 hour?

    3. Nice Idea again. Thank you.

    4. Well. You nailed it again. Its both. Icliniq is a continuous service platform and also a doctor discovery platform. You gave beautiful terms for us to use in the future. 😀

    I would like to discuss with you a lot in a call (apart from the discussion here). Request you to send me your email id. My email id is dhruv@icliniq.com. 

  17. Hi Kamal,

    Prepaid wallet is a good option. Yes. I understand the barrier in ecommerce especially with two factor authentication for payments. 

    Regarding your point “No one would/should trust anonymous advice and it lacks interactivity (instant gratification) if your team of doctors searches for perfect answer which may take anywhere from 5-15 mins to reply.”

    Its not going to be anonymous. It will be a real doctor’s reply. You will be getting his name and his profile link too. Our doctors do not search for answers. They write an answer for every issue.  And icliniq is interactive and the model is designed around it. :D. I have offered insights in the discussion how our doctors actually answer health queries. 

  18. Hey,

    A Quick question to you- What will be your response time against any query?

  19. 1 hour is the deadline for a reply. 🙂

  20. We have developed apps for online consultation with the Global Team of Blackberry and plans to develop on android too. We can help on consultation part with our Master Centre at Nanavati Hospital, Mumbai.

    drop me email at vishalgnema@bnhtmcentre.com

    or visit http://www.bnhtmcentre.com

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