JAKARTA (TheInsiderStories) - Ride-sharing technology platform and Practo, the Bengaluru-based healthcare doctor booking platform, have inked a partnership agreement which will make it easier for customers to reach doctors. The service will be available in Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore and India in the first phase, starting from Nov. 17, Uber said in a statement.
Under the partnership scheme, users of Practo who book an appointment on its app will be able to see the closest Uber available when they get a reminder alert for their appointments. Users can then click the reminder notification and complete the booking process, the firm said in a statement.
Practo said the app will give an estimate time for Uber cars to arrive, the destination and the estimated fare. The driver app will have the destination pre-filled once the trip starts. The next phase of integration will involve notifying the user to request for an Uber an hour prior to the appointment.
Shashank ND, founder and CEO of Practo said the joint service is aimed to provide a simplified healthcare experience that reduces consumer stress and anxiety at every level. Transportation issues often bring additional stress to a doctor’s visit - having to drive through traffic, while patients have to wait.
“There are also many patients who may not be able to drive themselves to a doctor at all. Our goal with this partnership is to completely remove this anxiety by integrating with Uber’s incredible experience and bringing that to our consumers.” said Shashank ND.
Practo entered Indonesian market in early September this year. In Indonesia, Practo offers consumers the option to search for doctors through a database of over 4,200 doctors, and will cover over 60 per cent of the clinics in Jakarta.
A combination of several economic, demographic and critical factors makes Indonesia a ripe market. The rising middle class, a transitional shift to better lifestyle choices and a changed social security system are believed to be the contributing factors for a growing healthcare market.
According to reports published in April this year by consulting and market research company Frost and Sullivan, the healthcare market in Indonesia is expected to touch $21 billion by 2019. The report went ahead to say that by the end of this year areas like healthtech and diagnostics will see a faster pace of growth. (*)