Halodoc Aspires to Simplify Healthcare Through Platform

Who would have thought, health digital solutions will be rapidly growing during the Covid-19 pandemic. Halodoc's vision and mission since five years ago becomes a proof that 'healthtech is here to stay in Indonesia'. In the meantime, they learned a lot from the pandemic and how to react in order to making further impact to the country.

Halodoc's Co-founder & CEO, Jonathan Sudharta shared many things about the startup he started from scratch through a limited media discussion that took place at his residence in Cilandak, South Jakarta some time ago.

“At that time [in early days] we were proud to have 4 thousand doctors, we acquired 100 thousand users in the first month, but the application rating was 1.9. At first, we thought that having thousands of doctors was a good thing. Eventually, we re-examined and gained insight that we need a proper product to solves the right pain point. And in the process of solving it, we need to combine products, operations, and technology," Jonathan started the discussion.

He continued, “We discover small things that we weren't had in mind previously, but to be focused on the right problem is not the solution, in fact. We have a mantra, 'don't fall in love with a solution, but fall in love with the right pain'. At that point, we started to do an experiment, where we only provide five most active doctors to answer user complaints. [..] The changing strategy boost up our rating to 4.”

Understanding 'passion pain', he called it that way, has had many implications for Halodoc's entire product approach, especially during the pandemic. The drive thru test solution for Covid-19 tests and vaccines is one of the company's realizations from this approach and is still operating.

"In short, we have helped more than 630 thousand people for the drive thru vaccine, this might be just a small number compared to the Indonesian population. However, as a private company, we are one of the biggest. Our mission is to simplify healthcare that is not just about business.”

In addition to people flocking to use telemedical services, in terms of supply, doctors also show their interest. It was stated when the Covid-19 broke out, there were more than 500 doctors per week going onboard with Halodoc app. To date, Halodoc has facilitated more than 20 thousand doctors.

From the beginning, Halodoc has positioned itself as a telemedical startup with a teleconsultation solution, guaranteeing 15 seconds of immediate response by doctors and a drug purchase service at pharmacies with 15 minutes guarantee to your home. Both services are company's main monetization source with a commission earned from each transaction.

Jonathan claims that both services have balanced contribution, capable to drive the company to a profitable position. However, he is still trying to increase the transaction volume of the two main channels, therefore, Halodoc can become a sustainable company in the future.

"We're not lying, we're still looking for ways to make it sustainable. There is a saying in the digital world 'if you can't build 10x experience, don't expect to sell your service'. Nevertheless, when you reach that point, prove that you have a product market fit, where people will pay for your services.”

Although he didn't clearly stated the Halodoc's total user, Jonathan mentioned that as many as 30% were in Greater Jakarta, of which Jakarta dominating with 20%. Then, the rest are from outside Jabodetabek and 50% of them are outside Java Island.

Bidanku App

Jonathan also mentioned another interesting news, the story of how he was able to attract the couple Bill Gates and Melinda Gates to invest in Halodoc. Long story short, Jonathan was chosen as one of the delegates for the training program held by the philanthropic foundation several years earlier, it was not until 2019, they officially invest in Halodoc.

On one occasion, all participants had the opportunity to have lunch with Bill Gates. Jonathan appeared in different clothes with the requirements given by the committee at the time. He managed to attract Bill Gates' attention and did a pitch which essentially proposed how his philanthropic foundation can help the Indonesian people.

“At that time, I basically pitched to initiate cooperation instead of funding. However, they turned out to have a different approach to solving health issues that require digital technology, it is what finally encouraged them to invest in Halodoc.”

The realization of this investment is the Bidanku app. Its purpose is purely social, offering free service for remote areas. Midwives are Halodoc's extension to enter remote areas, the population of midwives in Indonesia is currently around 240 thousand people.

Halodoc wants to work on how midwives can treat patients with better birth rate output, lower mortality rates, and so on. This application focuses on solving administrative problems that previously required midwives to devote at least two hours a day to take care.

In addition, this application can manage patient data and digital cards, access to patient visit which automatically summarized in digital Puskesmas reports, and send visit reminders to WhatsApp, also monitor practice recaps to manage & develop practices. "The midwives who before and after using the application, the number of visits doubled because before the application there were many whose schedules were not managed."

He continued, "Halodoc is not a whole 'meat', there are many humanitarian factors that we do. This is part of the sociopreneur, there is a part of the entrepreneur who must be sustainable. Hence, don't forget our call to help others."

Future plans

Healthtech is a nascent industry that born post the pandemic. The product was validated in time of the pandemic. In this case, Jonathan is not really consider many healthtech players providing similar solutions as competitor. Instead, he discovers that in the world of health, the more solutions presented, the more people will have access to health care.

Halodoc becomes one of the healthtech startups which is also a member of the Indonesian Telemedicine Alliance (ATENSI) along with 30 other companies. This association was only established late last year, in the midst of a pandemic.It involves other companies include Alodokter, Good Doctor, Klikdokter, Homecare24, and many more.

"In the healthcare world, we should not see other players as competitors, instead, it is to spur us to grow better."

The company's next plan after this pandemic is to focus on preventive actions. It is visible from some features in the application included in the Health Support category, such as the health insurance package with Astra Insurance, diabetes risk, menstrual calendar, BMI calculator, pregnancy calendar, heart risk, medication reminders, and donations.

“We aim for Halodoc to be able to keep patients healthy. We look after them with features, such as brief test for diabetes as we try to keep them healthy and be a part of people's health," he said.

–Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian