Irrespective of the socio-economic class one belongs to, and notwithstanding any political affiliations, there is no denying the fact that healthcare is a big problem in Pakistan. Poor conditions of Government run hospitals and high bills of private hospitals always leave the patients in the lurch whenever the need arises. In such testing times, consumers are always on the lookout for some form of relief. myZindagi, an up and coming on-demand healthcare startup, aims to make the whole process of disease diagnosis, finding and consulting a doctor much easier.
What is myZindagi?
myZindagi is a comprehensive healthcare platform which covers a lot of different aspects of healthcare from booking appointments to asking qualified local doctors questions through a forum. A very interesting feature of the service is the live doctor video consultation.
myZindagi has a database of 15,000+ doctors and service availability in 40+ cities
Led by technology veteran Haseeb Sattar, the startup has been working, testing and improving on the product in stealth mode for the past one year. The platform boasts a database of 15,000+ doctors – the biggest one in Pakistan – and service availability in 40+ cities, a feat not many healthcare startups have been able to achieve in Pakistan.
Speaking about the venture, Haseeb said,
“Unfortunately the health system is very broken in Pakistan. Through myZindagi, we aim to fill the missing gaps and provide quality medical care via all touch points to people; be it a mobile app, web platform or a simple phone call.”
Built with the mantra in mind that healthcare is personal, the platform provides ample choices for users to keep their data private, even from the platform itself. The data, with the agreement of the user, is put forth to the consultants. Hence, keeping the users in confidence of their health related data.
The service is available to consumers both as an online portal and as iOS and Android mobile apps.
Here’s a brief overview of what myZindagi’s healthcare portal is currently offering.
1. Find and Book a doctor
Both the online portal and mobile apps allow you to search for doctors in your vicinity and book an appointment with them. You can browse through a list of available doctors, look at their practice details, and book an appointment through a facilitator either via phone call, sms or directly through the platform. If the available information is not enough and you’d like to inquire about something else, you can also contact the doctor via phone call or leave a message.
Additionally, the platform has partnered with several medical labs and pharmacies across the country. Now due to these partnerships, users can order lab tests at the place of their convenience, get themselves tested through experienced lab technicians and receive results directly on myZindagi application. Likewise, medicines can also be ordered through the application. Both labs and medical prescriptions are dispensed only after a doctor consultation to comply with international health regulations.
If you are looking for a hospital to undergo a more thorough examination, the application also gives you an option to do just that. It lists all the nearby hospitals with complete information about their working hours and doctor’s panel.
2. Video consultation
A very interesting feature of myZindagi is the integration of video consultation across the application. Using mobile application, you can video call a doctor to have a discussion about your ailment. The platform has doctors available round the clock to provide video consultations.
It is particularly useful in cases when the issue is minor and most people would rather see it through by themselves than going to a hospital. In this way, the doctor can timely inform the patient if there is anything to worry about their condition.
3. Doctor advice forum
myZindagi only allows doctors to provide answers at their digital forum. Therefore, the advice is genuine, meaningful and comes from a doctor not a quack.
Another nifty feature of myZindagi is its Doctor advice forum. It works in a similar way to other online forums, with one useful addition — the impressive database of doctors that myZindagi maintains. Using this feature, you can browse through already answered questions or post a new one if nothing matches your query. Unlike different Facebook Health Groups, where everyone tries to provide their own advice leaving the patient confused and misguided, myZindagi only allows qualified doctors to provide answers at their digital forum. Therefore, the advice is genuine, meaningful and comes from a doctor, not a quack.
4. Personal medical history
Built around the concept that healthcare is personal, myZindagi makes sure to remember your medical history and lifestyle information to aid doctors in future diagnosis and treatment. While using the service for the first time, you can choose to sign up for a new account and make sure that all your medical history remains safe and secure on the cloud.
Keeping the importance of health records in mind, the healthcare startup is facilitating records management as well. Without going through the hassle of saving prescriptions on papers and then visiting a doctor to show them, these records and prescriptions can be directly shared with the doctor with the tap of a button.
The startup, at the time of launch, has many strong partners on board including trusted Chughtai Lab, Servaid+, Synnapps and Twilio. With the confidence of all these partners and a hefty investment behind the project, the startup doesn’t have financial constraints and is entirely focused on developing the best user experience for users in Pakistan.
MyZindagi is one of those services which is immediately needed and totally makes sense for Pakistan. Bearing in mind the current condition of health care sector, there is no denying its importance and utility. Bearing the slogan, “Mera Doctor, Mere Sath”, its aim is to make the process of finding and consulting a doctor much easier for the end user. Through their beautifully designed online portal and functionally rich mobile apps, they appear well on track to achieve that goal.
