Wednesday October 21, 2009
Doctors on click
By ALLAN KOAY
An online resource that aims to make healthcare part of everyone’s lifestyle.
YOU wake up one morning, and find that your face has broken out. You get into a slight panic, trying to figure out what’s causing it.
You sift through your arsenal of cosmetic and facial products to identify the possible “perpetrator”. In such instances, does one take the trouble to drive out to the doctor’s? Or do you wait it out and see if the breakout dissipates soon?
This is the kind of simple situation that Dr Thiruchelvan Balakrishnan and Dr Kantha Rasalingam anticipated when they founded ECure.my. The website (http://ecure.my) is not just an online store but also has an “Ask the Doctor” section where people can ask their questions and a panel of doctors and experts will give the appropriate advice.
The idea for ECure.my was first mooted three years ago, and the project started only 10 months ago. The website went live last week.
At the click of a mouse: ‘There are 10 doctors from different fields at any one time,’ says Dr Thiruchelvan Balakrishnan, one of the founders of ECure. “We are doctors and with our parent company, Summer Advisory Sdn Bhd, which we started in 2004, we have a chain of clinics,” explained Dr Thiruchelvan, a general practitioner who is also the CEO of the Summer Group. “We have progressed from there and have a chain of pharmacies and also an IT division.
“There are two factors why we decided to start ECure. We started getting a lot of calls from friends, acquaintances and family members, not so much telling us their problems and wanting a diagnosis, but more about wanting advice – where should they go, who should they see, which specialists, what products should they use. It’s the kind of things which are difficult for the public to obtain.”
Apart from a selection of products such as vitamins, cosmetic products, supplements, toiletries and dental care products, ECure.my also offers prescription and over-the-counter drugs. There is also a section on “health news” with the latest information on healthcare. There is also a directory of hospitals and clinics nationwide.
All in, it’s more a lifestyle website than a medical search engine. The whole idea behind the website is that both Dr Thiruchelvan and Dr Kantha want healthcare to be associated more with lifestyle than just something people would only be concerned with when they are ill.
“Usually you go and see a doctor when you have a problem,” said Dr Thiruchelvan. “We don’t want health to be a stigma; we want it to be a lifestyle element. Which it is, because from the time we wake up in the morning to the time we go to bed at night, we use so many products, from oral hygiene to skincare products.”
According to him, this is the first such website in Asia, although there are similar websites in the US that have been very successful. Certainly, getting online advice from a doctor is not something Malaysians would have come across until now.
But Dr Thiruchelvan elaborated that ECure.my does not provide diagnoses, as these should always be followed up with medical examinations.
“What we want to do is provide advice,” he said. “Some of us go to the pharmacy to get some products even without seeing the doctor. With ECure, you pose a question to the doctor, get advice, and then get your products. It might be a gastric problem, and you can ask us a question to find out which product is suitable.”
But of course, if it is a much more serious medical problem, then one should naturally see a doctor for an examination. And here’s where ECure.my’s directory of hospitals and clinics would come in handy.
“If it’s very bad gastritis, we would find out how long it has been happening, and then we would provide information about gastritis – eating habits, smoking, alcohol, food, bacteria. We might suggest a scope, and can tell you in which hospital you can get a scope and all that,” said Dr Thiruchelvan.
“Let’s say you have a chronic headache which has lasted for the last three years,” he added. “Then we would be able to tell you, three years is a pretty long time, and perhaps you need a basic blood test and CT scan and get your eyes and blood pressure checked. At least you’d be at ease. You can even ask us who you should see. And based on your location, you can find out which hospital nearest to you provides CT scans.”
He illustrated that it is far more convenient to have advice just a click away rather than to drive out, sometimes not even knowing where to go.
As for follow-up questions, he said the website’s administration keeps records, as ECure.my requires registration as a member. However, registration is free.
“There are 10 doctors from different fields at any one time,” he said. “We have an opthamologist, an orthopaedic surgeon, a dietician, a gynaecologist, a neurosurgeon, a general practitioner, and we also have a skin specialist. We have an option where you can choose to speak to the relevant specialist.”
As for prescription drugs, he said ECure.my only dispenses but does not prescribe. Prescriptions can be obtained from Summer Advisory’s chain of clinics.
“(Members) can also send us their prescriptions, or e-mail or fax them to us,” he added. “But those we would need to verify by calling the clinics or hospitals.”
“You cannot get information or advice right now unless you go to see a doctor,” said Dr Thiruchelvan. “Of course, you do get information from the Internet, from journals and stuff like that. But what we are trying to do is (to emphasise) that ... ECure is not just for when you’re sick. We want to make it a lifestyle thing, with emphasis on healthcare.”
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