How this startup is transforming healthcare amidst a crisis

Southeast Asia has seen phenomenal growth in recent years and is projected to be the fourth-largest economy in the world by 2030. A lot of this is driven by its digital economy, which has tripled in size over the last four years, becoming a symbol of the region’s development and modernization.

And yet despite all this advancement, one vital area remains underdeveloped: healthcare. Medical systems in the region are straining to meet demand on a regular basis, an issue that has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The answer lies in digital healthcare. “In general, healthcare in the region still relies on physical and manual coordination,” says Kelvin Chen, CEO and co-founder of Kent Ridge Health, a digital healthcare company that aims to make it easy for people to navigate their healthcare journey.

The sector is very traditional and cumbersome, he says, adding that he has seen little improvement in healthcare outcomes.

Kent Ridge Health co-founders (L to R): Matthew Tang and Kelvin Chen / Photo credit: Kent Ridge Health

Accessibility, fraud, and cost issues

In Southeast Asia, it’s not out of the ordinary for people to wait for hours just to see a physician, as doctor-patient ratios fall below the global average. Long wait times can also lead to daily wage workers losing a day’s pay – a problem exacerbated by costly medical treatment in the region.

A public health crisis like Covid-19 can push healthcare infrastructures further to the breaking point.

As such, basic accessibility remains an issue. Matthew Tang, co-founder of Kent Ridge Health, recounted a conversation he had with a doctor from Ho Chi Minh to illustrate this point. “He explained how [patients] have to take overnight buses just to get to the city to see him. If they miss their bus back home, they’ll have to stay the night in the city, which is expensive,” he says.

In an effort to save time and money, some turn to options that could cause more harm than good.

“In Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines, medicine may not be widely available,” says Chen. “Lower-wage earners may end up just picking up a box of unapproved pills from street peddlers instead.”

The startup credits these issues to several factors, including the realities of geographical size, varying stages of infrastructure and economic development, and distinct healthcare policies.

Additionally, healthcare providers often operate in silos, with individuals and organizations not coordinating with one another. This creates a disjointed system that results in wasted time and higher costs as patients are forced to find their own way through the medical labyrinth.

“The solution is in designing technology that is uniquely suited to healthcare problems and creating a human-centered ecosystem that speaks to all stakeholders in healthcare,” says Tang. “Our ecosystem aims to improve overall healthcare outcomes. This outcome driven approach to healthcare is still very nascent today.”

Driving better healthcare outcomes

Kent Ridge Health aims to fill this gap with its ecosystem and app, Euda. Taking its name from the first four letters of the Greek word eudaimonia, which roughly translates to “happiness,” the platform was built to seamlessly deliver a wide range of healthcare services including telemedicine.

Patients also get access to a care team that supports them through their journey, from finding the right doctor to navigating payments and post-surgery care.

Because it is an ecosystem, Euda allows its members to access, pay for, and manage all their healthcare needs in one place.

“We also take a data-driven approach to analyze and offer thoughtful care options to members and their doctors,” explains Chen. “The technology also optimizes employee care for businesses by identifying areas of care that employees need.”

This all-encompassing strategy has been effective, improving healthcare for its 500,000-plus members, who can consult with doctors four times faster compared to visits arranged through other means. Healthcare costs across the platform are 40% lower on average, and pre-emptive healthcare pricing promotes transparency and clarity, Chen says. “On the whole, our platform has improved healthcare outcomes for all our patients while lowering cost,” he adds.

These successes have yielded business results as well. “We now serve more than 1,000 corporate clients, up from the five when we started in November 2017,” shares Chen. Kent Ridge Health has also built a global partnership network of over 2,000 doctors and medical institutions, which forms the foundation of the company’s services.

Looking ahead, the team plans to constantly develop Euda, automating more functions to reduce costs even more. “We are developing technologies, such as image recognition, predictive algorithms to read MRIs and X-rays,” lists Chen.

Photo credit: Kent Ridge Health

Supporting the community through Covid-19

Being built on tech put Kent Ridge Health in a strong position to respond to the needs of people and businesses amid this pandemic.

“Before Covid-19, most people thought that teleconsultation was simply about convenience,” Chen says. “Now, it has become an essential part of public health safety.”

To encourage better public healthcare, the startup is making its in-app doctor teleconsultations available to members and non-members alike. “At a time like this, we don’t want the costs of seeing a doctor or the fear of going to clinics to be a barrier to someone looking for care,” says Tang.

It will also be launching KRTouch, a device with facial recognition and temperature-reading features that automates visitor logging and contact tracing, designed for use in offices and malls.

“This is intended to help manage crowds and enable seamless contact tracing,” explains Chen. “At the outset of this crisis, we recognized fairly quickly that a device like this was going to be essential in the future.”

Kent Ridge Health believes such technologies will continue to drive better healthcare outcomes while decreasing costs for individuals and businesses.

“We see ourselves as changemakers in healthcare,” says Tang, “Not only providing an end-to-end service but improving the lives of individuals.”

You can see a doctor via teleconsultation and download the MyEuda app for free at this link.