Transactions Skyrockets during Pandemic, Halodoc Massively Develops AI Technology

Halodoc recorded a doubled increase in users during the Covid-19 pandemic. This health startup has begun to aggressively develop artificial intelligence (AI) technology and machine learning in the midst of a decline in corona cases in Indonesia.

Halodoc Co-Founder and CBO Doddy Lukito said online consultation service transactions (telemedicine) increased 10 times. The number of readers on information pages or health articles has doubled.

Halodoc’s transactions at health stores also increased fivefold. Then, the service to make doctor’s appointments has tripled. While the Covid-19 test has been used by more than 600 thousand users.

Currently, Halodoc attracts 18 million users and more than 20 thousand doctors. In addition, there are more than 4,000 service providers ranging from hospitals to pharmacies on the platform.

“The disease that consumers consult the most so far is related to the corona. Then, there are specialist consultation services, poly, genital, internal medicine to gynecology,” said Doddyduring a virtual press conference, Friday (22/10). He also noted that veterinary and mental health consulting services are starting to be in demand.

Along with the surge in usage during the Covid-19 pandemic, companies are aggressively innovating. “For example, we made various preparations for the implementation of AI and machine learning,” said Doddy.

AI Applications Will Be Expanded in the Health Sector

Halodoc leverages AI to improve the way doctors receive feedback. When doctor partners open the platform, doctors will get performance information based on response time and quality index metrics.

This information has been analyzed by AI. Doddy said Halodoc will expand the application of AI to the health sector.

In China, Huawei is also leveraging AI to develop smart hospitals. The hospital has AI-based robots that are connected to the network to disinfect facilities and deliver medicines.

The smart hospital will also enable sensors and devices throughout the ward that can be used to send alerts to nurses’ smartwatches. Through these hours, nurses can get information such as when the patient falls or the patient’s IV fluid has a problem.

Previously, Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin also predicted that health services would intensively use post-coronavirus technology such as AI, Internet of Things (IoT) and big data.

“I learned that the health sector in the future will be influenced by the use of big data technology, IoT to AI,” said Budi at the FB@UNGA’s event entitled ‘The Role of Tech in the Global Recovery’, Tuesday (21/9). According to Budi, AI can be applied to the diagnosis, development of health protocols to personalized treatment.

Halodoc Supports Health Workers Inclusion in Digital Transformation

Despite the very basic role of doctors for the welfare of the nation, Indonesia only had 4.27 doctors for every 10,000 population in 2018. This number is quite lagging behind neighboring countries such as the Philippines (6), Thailand (8.05) or Singapore (22, 9).

This condition is further complicated by the challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic which has lasted almost two years and claimed hundreds of health heroes.

For this reason, the role of technology that is able to bridge wider access for patients and security for doctors in these difficult times is increasingly important.

Based on this, the Indonesian Ministry of Health has issued a digital transformation roadmap in the health sector until 2024, which includes the role of telehealth in helping to realize equitable and inclusive health services.

As one of the leading telehealth players in Indonesia, Halodoc is holding a discussion regarding the future of the future health ecosystem with the Indonesian Ministry of Health and the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) in welcoming National Doctors Day which will fall on 24 October.

In the next few years, people are expected to be able to access digital health services starting from the womb to facing critical conditions, where all medical records will be integrated into one system, so that each person will have a personal health record.