Globe’s 917Ventures sees post-pandemic growth for telehealth startup KonsultaMD

Globe Telecom’s venture capital arm, 917Ventures, is expecting its telemedicine startup, KonsultaMD, to sustain the high demand for subscription-based telehealth services even after the pandemic.

“Telehealth is definitely here to stay. COVID-19 has certainly accelerated adoption for it, but it’s not going to disappear post-COVID,” KonsultaMD CEO Cholo Tagaysay told an online press conference on Wednesday.

917Ventures managing director Vince Yamat said that the venture capital firm is bent on growing health tech services in the country, given the rising demand for remote medical access because of convenience, affordability, and safety.

“We’ve had high hopes for KonsultaMD even before the pandemic. We saw it as a way to address the pain points in Philippine healthcare, which was suffering from a lack of healthcare professionals, inadequate health infrastructure, and limited accessibility, not to mention the high cost of medical consultation,” Yamat said.

“People were wary of using the service before as they are used to traditional face-to-face consultations, but with the pandemic, things have changed. Telehealth has become an important innovation that will stay and evolve,” he added.

Almost two years into the global health crisis, medical consultations through the KonsultaMD app have already skyrocketed by 1,549% versus pre-pandemic levels.

Likewise, the service has reached over one million members who enjoy 24/7 unlimited access to licensed doctors via voice or video call for as low as P60 a month. 

“Our situation has taken away the reluctance of many Filipinos to try telehealth services. People are looking for ways to stay safe from the virus while our hospitals are overwhelmed with patients. KonsultaMD has become a platform that connects Filipinos to much-needed medical consults for non-emergency cases,” he said.

KonsultaMD app users can consult with doctors specializing in different fields from general medicine, family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, rehabilitation medicine, mental health support, psychiatry, dermatology, ophthalmology, dentistry, ENT, and surgery.

It also provides digital management of health consultation records and issuance of medical documents such as e-prescriptions, e-laboratory requests, e-referrals, and e-medical certificates.

Tagaysay expressed confidence that even after the pandemic, the public’s behavior of consulting with a doctor via voice or video will remain.

He noted that even when COVID-19 cases subsided early this year, teleconsults continued to grow as people realized the advantages of using the service and going digital. — VBL, GMA News