The Covid-19 pandemic sparked a dramatic acceleration in the adoption of digital health tools throughout Asia, rapidly transforming consumer behavior. Today, as governments lift restrictions and patients become more comfortable with in-person doctor’s appointments, telemedicine usage has remained resilient. At MyDoc, a telemedicine platform headquartered in Singapore, the number of monthly active users grew 272% from January 2019 to January 2021. Registered users also rose 65% year over year. Similarly, Chinese digital health platform Ping An Good Doctor saw an 18% increase in newly registered users and a 24% increase in daily consultations in 2020 compared with 2019. While usage has declined from its pandemic peak, it is evident that telemedicine is here to stay.
As physicians drastically reduced primary care visits, telemedicine platforms quickly became the first touchpoint on the patient journey. Physicians can treat a majority of teleconsultation cases virtually. MyDoc, for instance, manages or resolves nearly 78% of cases on the platform. For the remaining cases, telemedicine serves as a point of triage to in-person services, across general practitioners, specialists, accident and emergency clinics, and more. In steering patients through the healthcare system, telemedicine is improving patient outcomes, reducing patient and payer costs, and alleviating the burden of overcrowded hospitals to make healthcare systems more efficient. Leading payers and providers will continue to incorporate telemedicine services into their core offerings to enhance the patient experience and optimize resources.