A web-application based website and mobile application can now facilitate real-time online video consultation under a single platform with doctors of multiple specialisations from your vicinity. This has been made possible by two young brothers from Delhi who have recently launched Med Harbour which has about 1,500 doctors registered with the portal in the Delhi NCR alone. Among these doctors, around 300 doctors are available for online video consultation on a 24-hour basis. The charges of the doctors range between Rs 200 to Rs 1,000, depending upon their experience and specialisation.
Nishant Gupta, a founder and director of Med Harbour, told The Sunday Guardian, “I had started working in the medical industry soon after completing my MBA, but it was my mother’s suggestion to become a medical service provider than just a facilitator. Seeing the growth in the online space and the government’s focus on ‘Digital India’, the idea of Med Harbour online was born.”
According to Nishant and Vikrant Gupta, the founding brothers, sexologists, general physicians and dermatologists are the most sought after for consultation through their online portal.
Vikrant told this newspaper, “People are very busy these days and often they choose to ignore their health. Through such applications or websites, they can consult a doctor even from their office space without having to physically go to the clinic in case of any minor problems.”
Vikrant also said that people in India often ignore problems related to sexual disorders because of societal taboos, but such online spaces give them their privacy to consult a sexologist without any fear. Thus, there have been a significant number of queries on sexual disorders, he said.
Asked about the confidentiality of medical records and the authenticity of doctors, he said, “We understand and take all measures and precautions to see that the medical records of patients are not accessible by anybody else other than the doctor. Our website and applications are completely secure to this regard.”
“In terms of the authenticity of doctors, they are all experienced and have their secure login-IDs and emails. No doctor is advised to prescribe medicines orally and the names of medicines can only be sent to the patient through their secured login IDs. Our backend team monitors such issues with due diligence,” Vikrant added.
The online portal, which currently handles only about 15-20 video consultations daily, aims to handle over 3,000 consultations daily across 20 cities in India as it plans to tap the markets in Jaipur, Chandigarh, Lucknow, and Agra, among other cities, in the coming years.