SINGAPORE: As the healthcare sector increasingly adopts new innovations such as telemedicine and artificial intelligence, healthcare providers must build a culture of trust among their patient bases, said experts.
This comes as the healthcare scene makes huge strides in recent years, driven by a rise in digital health technologies such as telemedicine.
“It takes a lot of time to build a business based on trust. And in healthcare, it’s only when your user trusts that you are a reliable platform, then they will start to use you,” said Mr Lim Wai Mun, founder and chief executive officer of telemedicine service Doctor Anywhere.
“We believe that only when the users find you useful (and) the experience is great, they will come back to use you.”
HEALTHCARE TO BECOME MORE BORDERLESS
Observers said digital health has changed the way societies access medical care in recent years, with the momentum made more urgent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Consumers are getting a lot smarter, a lot more demanding,” Mr Lim told CNA’s Asia Now on Tuesday (Oct 31).
“As the population starts to adopt other digital services like online shopping, it’s not surprising to see that healthcare is also adopting digital transformation as well.”
He believes healthcare in Southeast Asia, in particular, will become more borderless with technology.
“It’s going to be a lot more inclusive, it’s going to be a lot more personalised,” he added.
“If a good doctor is in Malaysia or in Singapore, then any patient who is suffering from a certain illness should be able to have access to the doctor. It shouldn’t be based on where you are born and or where you are staying.”
However, he noted that there would be a need to bridge the gap, as overcoming such constraints would be expensive.