Globe launches 24/7 health hotline

Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc. has formed a joint venture with a Mexican company for an all-day health hotline service to provide basic healthcare and permissible medication.

In a statement, Globe said its whollyowned unit Yondu partnered with Salud Interactiva, a leader in the health hotline space in Mexico, to set up KonsultaMD.

Yondu offers an extensive range of information technology and mobile services.

KonsultaMD would be manned by skilled and licensed Filipino doctors who provide medical assessment and advice, including basic healthcare and permissible medication over the phone.

To avail of the service, all Globe postpaid, prepaid and TM customers may sign up through the website: www.konsulta.md. They may also call (02) 79880 or visit a Globe store.

By paying P150 per month, Globe postpaid customers can avail of the service for four household members. The subscription is free for two months upon enrolment and the monthly charge will apply on the third month onwards.

Globe prepaid and TM customers may subscribe to the service for P15 a week while the fee is waived for Platinum Elite members.

“KonsultaMD is our response to the pain points in Philippine healthcare. The growing population puts further pressure to an already-strained healthcare landscape which is suffering from lack of experienced healthcare professionals, under-resourced public hospitals, poor health infrastructure and limited accessibility. Throw in long wait times and high cost of medical consultation which further discourage people from seeking medical advice and instead push them towards self-medication,” said Gil Genio, Globe chief strategy officer and chief operating officer for business and international markets.

“We envision the health hotline to provide easy access to medical advice and more efficient health care because it costs significantly less to talk to a doctor than a personal visit, thus, we are confident that through this revolutionary service, we would be able (to) address many challenges facing the industry,” he added.

For his part, Salud Interactiva chief operating officer Jorge Aspuru said the Mexican company is bringing its 20 years of experience in health hotline service to the Philippines.

“We believe this will be highly-beneficial to Filipinos given the similar scenario in the Philippines and Mexico insofar as health infrastructure and services are concerned,” he said.

The new venture shows the important role telecommunications play in transforming the way healthcare is being provided worldwide.

Among the telecom companies using information and communications technology to provide solutions for cost effective healthcare are Vodafone, AT&T (USA), Telmex (Mexico), Orange Telecom (France), Turkcell (Africa), Telefonica (Spain), Airtel (India), Grameenphone (Bangladesh), MTN (Africa), and STC (South Africa).

Aside from KonsultaMD, Globe has other efforts in the healthcare sector including Globe HealthCloud, an end-to-end web-based health ICT solution that enables real-time, secure and convenient access to health information.

Globe has also tied up with ACCESS Health to provide easy access to maternal and child care services, and with the Philippine National AIDS Council for a mobile communications campaign for information and referrals to HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) counselling, testing and lifesaving treatment programs.