This startup helps Southeast Asia’s hospital rooms become part of the sharing economy

The sharing economy has been a symbol of success for Uber and Airbnb. In other areas of society, entrepreneurs also seek to match demand with untapped services and assets. HDStartup based out Bangkok, eHealth is using the economic model to improve healthcare in Southeast Asia.

HD offers a platform to help three parties: patients seeking lower-cost surgery, private practitioners, and empty hospital rooms. While this model may seem counterintuitive for people from the West, Southeast Asia’s healthcare system is built on a different patient-hospital dynamic.

Sheji HoHD’s CEO and co-founder, Ho, was inspired to create the company after he saw doctors in Thailand advertise on Facebook for private patients. Ho, who co-founded the site, said that dual practice is “very common” in Southeast Asia for doctors. Southeast Asian e-commerce enabler aCommerce.

In an interview, he said that while they receive the credential working in top hospitals, they do not get paid well. Therefore, he suggested that they also work in private hospitals where they can make more.

People in Southeast Asia go straight to the hospital when they are sick. Ho thinks the problem with public hospital is that they are often crowded. Doctors try to get patients to private hospitals. “Doctors [in the region] “They are sort of like merchants that operate on different platforms,” he said.

In 2018, 40% of Southeast Asia’s healthcare spending was out of pocket. according to World Health OrganizationThis compares to 29.8% for Europe and 32.4% across the Americas. Patients often pay a high price because there is no central platform that provides cost transparency.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused huge shortages in surgeon rooms, and Thailand, which was a popular tourist destination, lost many international patients. Ho pointed out that the oversupply was caused by Thailand’s hospital-building spree prior to the pandemic. This was due to the government’s belief in an aging population as well as increased land values.

Ho says that hospitals have expressed an interest in using our platforms. HD brings customers to them so it can negotiate for lower room rates. HD offers surgery for thyroid, hemorhoid and orthopedics at a fraction of the market price.

Why not create a central point that can meet all your needs? HDcare, a private-label surgical service, was launched two months ago. According to Ho, the platform now has a supply of more than 20 operating rooms in Thailand and Indonesia. It also has the potential to access more healthcare providers from its 1,500 members. The platform has 40 types of surgeries scheduled. The goal is to have 200 operations per quarter by Q4-2023.

Amazon for Health Services

HD’s new surgery platform, which is an extension of its existing business, is a marketplace for outpatient service. This model has been successful in the large healthcare market in neighboring countries. ChinaJD.com is located at. Alibaba’s domestic archrivalThe, also runs an e-commerce business that sells third-party services in healthcare such as checkups, vaccinations and minor surgery.

Because there is no primary care in Southeast Asia, people will need to either ask friends or go through several rounds of hospital hopping before finding the right doctor.

This is in contrast to the U.S. 75% of adults had primary care physicians 2015: Common conditions are now being treated. Patients are referred only to hospitals for specialist or urgent care.

HD, just like Airbnb, began onboarding hospitals or clinics by doing a lot of heavy lifting such as helping customers set up product pages. Ho says that this is also our moat. “SaaS remains too early for Southeast Asia.”

HD receives a cut of transactions and charges a listing fee to healthcare providers. This is similar to the way a traditional e-commerce platform monetizes. It offers healthcare marketing services to providers through its platform, much in the same way that Amazon Ads or Tmall Ads allow brands to expand their reach and increase their performance.

There is much debate about platform operators’ liability in tech. And a platform that can impact one’s personal health seems to make matters even more complicated. HD is a marketplace platform and doesn’t handle disputes. However, HD does deal with disputes in the beauty industry, where it may be more subjective. HD follows an approach similar that Amazon. HD “puts patients before all else, refunds customers, and deals directly with providers,” the founder says.

HD emphasizes elective surgery that is minimally invasive and short-stay. This includes thyroid and hemorhoid surgeries, as well as outpatient procedures.

HD has provided care for approximately 250,000 people since its inception four years ago. The pandemic saw HD experience a 7x increase in sales and the company aims to maintain its growth rate of 2-3x during the post-COVID period.

Recession: Optimism

The pandemic is not yet. taking a toll on the global economyHo is optimistic about his venture. We saw businesses flourish when there was a recession. They were leveraging excess stock. Groupon was leveraging excess supply.

“So, as the recession enters, there is plenty of opportunity — hospitals have too many rooms. This part of the business can be rapidly grown within a two- to three year window.

HD’s fundraising had a difficult start despite the positive signs of growth. Telemedicine startups became the preferred healthcare option as the pandemic spread across the globe. Ho disagrees.

Telehealth works well on the Western Market. Basically, the GP is your contact person. [general physician]You get a prescription and then you go to Walgreens to get your antibody prescription.” he said.

“But, in Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, that tier can be obtained at pharmacies [over the counter]This eliminates the need for telehealth.

HD’s potential is being realized by investors. It allows offline medical providers to connect with each other via digital platforms. Partech Partners, M Venture Partners and AC Ventures funded a $6 million round of funding for the startup. It is also part of the latest batch accepted into Google for Startups Accelerator’s Southeast Asia program.