Dubai: Dial a doctor. And have him come over on house visits to treat the ailment with impeccable bedside manners.
The imagery this throws up goes back to a distant past — in actual fact until the 1980s — when doctors did make house visits. And yes, they — at least most of them — did have charming bedside manners.
Looking back, it all sounds so last century-ish. But that has not deterred a mid-sized health care services company in Dubai from trying to revive the old practice.
Lifeline Healthcare has formally launched its 800 Doctor service, whereby a resident can access instant services through a phone call. "It's the first dedicated doctor on call facility in Dubai and it's about bringing personalised health care services available to those when someone needs it urgently and in their homes," said Advet Bhambani, who founded Lifeline Healthcare along with his father, Dr Haresh Bhambani.
"We have had a pilot programme running for 800 Doctor for two years from 2008, during which we tested out all aspects of what we intended to offer before going wide with it."
Bhambani says the concept is hardly revolutionary. But in the present times, it does mark a radical departure from the practice of getting all of one's health-care needs solely through hospitals or clinics.
Even then, doesn't 800 Doctor have to contend with entrenched mindsets within its target audience that quality health care can only be provided at a dedicated facility? "What we have at 800 Doctor are ER physicians not your regular clinical GPs; they are hospital doctors who have been with us a for a minimum of three years," said Bhambani.
Highly trained
"They are all highly trained family physicians and can treat a variety of ailments from suturing wounds to all kinds of minor treatments.
"We did develop a track record with the cases we dealt with in the two years of pilot testing. During this period, most of the business came through repeats — now that's a great parameter to know satisfaction levels were very high, if you ask me." The 800 Doctor will be backed up by its personnel and fleet. The doctors will be based at the company's multiple facilities to ensure the response times once the calls come in are kept to the shortest possible.
"We have been reinvesting to add more depth to the services; we started out with two or three doctors and now we have 20," said Bhambani, who incidentally is also the CEO of Lifeline Healthcare.
By the end of the third month of the pilot phase, 800 Doctor was able to reach breakeven. "We saw a year-on-year growth of 35 to 40 per cent in the last two years and with the full launch and backed by awareness campaigns we can reasonably expect more," said Bhambani.
Getting such a service off the ground requires Dh2 million and more, and additional expenses will incur to maintain a full team of doctors, nurses, paramedics and a dedicated fleet.
Along with house calls, the promoters have tied up with commercial establishments such as hospitals to create a broader market for 800 Doctor.
Strong possibility
Now, with the launch of full-blown services in Dubai on schedule, the next logical stop will be Abu Dhabi. Qatar's also rated a strong possibility and could even happen by next year.
"Whichever market we enter next, we want to offer a first of its kind service; what we are doing is personalising health care in a way that's been tried and tested over ages," said Bhambani.
"Obviously, people are responding well to what we have to offer. [This is] attested by us never facing a day when we did not receive a call on 800 Doctor during the two years of pilot tests." That surely says a lot, doesn't it?
Awaiting launch
- 800 Doctor pilot programme launched in 2008.
- The service offers highly trained ER physicians backed up by ambulance service and paramedics.
- The venture enjoyed a year-on-year growth of 35-40 per cent and it is hoped it will grow further with full launch and awareness campaigns.
Long history
Lifeline Healthcare launched operations in 1996 with a polyclinic in Jebel Ali.
"At the time there were few polyclinics in Dubai and the choice of location proved fortuitous for us later on," said Advet Bhambani. "By 2002, the real estate curve was starting for Dubai and the New Dubai neigbourhood was being created.
"We launched the Jebel Ali Hospital in 2005 and capitalised on the huge catchment capacity that the area had come to represent by then. The facility started with 20 beds and now is just 60-90 days away from completing a Dh35 million expansion.
"It would create a 50-bed capacity and, more importantly, transform the facility from a secondary healthcare services provider to tertiary. That's a huge change for us.
"Obstetrics is a special focus and we are getting into cardiology. We are also starting a CAT lab. The actual square footage is three times the current.
"Up to the third interchange on Shaikh Zayed Road we are going to be the only obstetrics facility available and that's a huge advantage. We already have a huge pent-up demand in the area and getting seven to eight calls a day for obstetrics related queries.
"The transition to being seen as a tertiary care provider will take some time, but not something that fazes us. Once it's operational, we expect a fast take up for the new services. We have the track record to convince anyone."
