If we’re not feeling well, most of us know that the long and tedious wait at a clinic is a norm. Even if we head over to a hospital, the wait is inevitable, particularly if we’re not sick enough to merit immediate attention.
With that in mind, Doctor2U is an app that allows Malaysians to have free live chats with medical professionals and to arrange for doctor house calls. They have a panel of licensed medical officers and specialists aimed at helping to attend a patient’s sickness and to provide immediate medical attention. If there is a need, for critical cases, Doctor2U will admit the patient to a hospital.
Launched just over a year ago, they’ve now brought in a new service that allows their users to order prescription medications and have them delivered to their homes.
In partnership with BP Healthcare Group and Lovy Pharmacy, Doctor2U hopes that this is another step to building a complete health-care service in one app.
According to Keegan Flynn, co-founder and chief financial officer of Doctor2U, “We are very excited about the launch of the new Pharmacy feature. We want to provide a fast, reliable and convenient way for customers to order and refill medications.
And even better, we are able to offer competitive pricing thanks to the scale of volume purchase of BP and Lovy Pharmacy. This latest offering is another step towards making Doctor2U a one-stop platform for bringing any health-care related services to your doorstep.”
Doctors will also be able to use the Doctor2U app to order medications on behalf of their patients, which will be convenient particularly if the doctor’s clinic or hospital is out of stock of a particular drug.
The Pharmacy feature also includes free webcam consultations with pharmacists and reminders to refill recurring medications. Customers are invited to consult a pharmacist via webcam once they have submitted a request. There is no limit to the amount of time the customers get for the consultation, but it is assumed that the customers’ questions will only pertain to the relevant medication request.
Combating Fraud
A concern with medication delivery like this would be the possibility of abuse. Pharmacists are used to getting patients to verify their identities before allowing them to pick up prescriptions, but if it’s getting delivered straight to homes, how will they ensure that medications are not getting into the wrong hands or that people aren’t exploiting the system?
Keegan addressed these concerns and told Vulcan Post, “Doctor2U and Lovy Pharmacy take the issue of fraud very seriously. In addition to sending a picture of their original prescription, customers are required to enter their full name and IC or passport number.
Upon delivery of the medications, the delivery personnel will ask for the original prescription, a valid ID to match the name, and a signature. Lovy Pharmacy delivery personnel have already been delivering medications for AIA corporate clients for some time now, so they are already trained on these protocols.”
How To Use The App
It’s a simple 5 step process to get the medication through Doctor2U.
1) Download the app from the Google Play Store or the Apple iOS Store and register.
2) Select “Pharmacy” on the home screen of the app.
3) Choose between ‘Pick-Up’, ‘Delivery’ or ‘Fast Track’. For pick-up, this option allows for users to pick up the medicine at any BP or Lovy Pharmacy outlet nationwide.
4) Snap a picture of the user’s ‘Rx’ Prescription and fill in the necessary details. This will be sent to BP and Lovy Pharmacists for review.
5) Once the pharmacists have verified and processed the order, the customer can make payment through the app and await delivery or pick-up.
The delivery details and charges are as follows:
Fast Track: deliver within 3 hours after successful payment (only available in Klang Valley during business hours) for a cost of RM 30.
Normal Delivery: deliver within 3 business days after successful payment (nationwide). Free delivery for medicine worth more than RM 100 in a single receipt. RM 10 charged for any order under RM 100.
For more information, you can visit their website here.
Feature Image Credit: Doctor2U
