Why On-demand Health Services Attract Entrepreneurs
The evolution of healthcare industry with technology is not limited to equipment and smart machines. The innovations are also enabling the industry to introduce on-demand health services. Consequently, the analysts predict the digital health market value to reach a massive $206 billion by 2020.
Many healthcare businesses are transforming their enterprise architecture to incorporate on-demand infrastructure. Apart from traditional businesses, startups in this sector are also performing very well. The cases of doctor on-demand and DispatchHealth are two of the successful instances.
For the past few years, the healthcare on-demand sector is growing at a remarkable rate.
Why are on-demand medical services gaining momentum?
The statistics shared earlier do not imply a flash in the pan. On-demand healthcare is here to stay for an indefinitely long period. Although a number of reasons play part in establishing and consolidating this sector, yet following are the most significant ones.
The Success of On-demand Business Models
The initial attempts at transforming traditional industries almost two decades back failed miserably. There were three primary reasons for the failures.
- Lack of testing of requisite technologies for commercial purposes.
- The influence of traditional business owners was too strong to cut their market share.
- The deficit of portability as high as smartphones could provide.
The latter half of the opening decade proved to be the game changer. The introduction of smartphones and ease of uploading apps on app stores were breakthrough developments.
With increasing commitments of average citizen, time has become more precious than ever. Consumers in every industry are willing to adopt ways that can buy them time. However, the intense routines – particularly of urbanites – leave little room for time-saving.
For these reasons, 22.4 million people are adopting on-demand consumption models annually on global scale.
Hence, the concept of taking the business at customer’s doorstep is faring extremely well in the consumer circles. Apart from daily chores, on-demand customers can also save resources from many other repetitive tasks.
Rising Consumer Trust
After the technologies attained a considerable magnitude of maturity, winning consumer’s trust was the next challenge. Unlike other on-demand industries, the consumers took substantially longer to redefine their faith.
The excessive time made sense because rarely would anyone want to risk their lives for saving time – and perhaps costs.
However, statistics are consistently depicting a positive transformation. Consumers are not only turning toward on-demand services but sticking with them as well.
After the success of telemedicine and on-demand healthcare practitioner services, on-demand ambulances are also making decent sums. Moreover, the aging US population implies that the number of senior citizens is growing significantly. Thus, the shift in demography is creating the need for homecare more than ever.
A decade back, only private health practitioners offered telemedicine facility. However, most of the hospitals in developed countries are also starting to offer these services. Thus, the regulations from authorities are also playing role in growing consumer confidence.
Successful Experiments on Mobile Doctor Services
The state of telemedicine and remote healthcare is a result of years of research and experimentation. Telemedicine apps are now capable of prescribing the appropriate medicine for minor health issues without the need of human doctor.
In fact, they can also prescribe for major diseases but regulations require consultations with human practitioner too. The AI-powered software systems enable these apps to conclude and recommend the treatment after analyzing the symptoms and history.
Where to Get Started?
Healthcare is a requirement for every inhabitant of earth regardless of the region or demographics. Thus, there is a massive demand in every developed and developing country. In the US alone, around 60% of inhabitants wish to seek on-demand health. However, less than 10% of the country’s population has access to it.
Defining the Business Model
First step for on-demand healthcare service – or for that matter any on-demand business – is to identify the appropriate market. You need to asses various markets and determine their healthcare needs.
For instance, some densely populated areas require more telemedicine services. The reason is the fact that consumers will avoid getting themselves into urban traffic. The radius of operation depends on your initial investment budget.
Next is the kind of services you intend to offer. On-demand health services can take various forms. You can offer at-home doctors, nurses, or telemedicine. On-demand ambulance and meeting a remotely located practitioner are also impressive approaches.
Each of these services can fit well in small towns as well as metropolitan areas.
On-demand Health Apps
Once you are sure about the targeted market and consumer needs, you need to have a suitable mobile app. Again, the features of the app will depend on the kind of services you provide.
Nevertheless, some features are essential for any on-demand business. These include route navigation, GPS tracking of team, and scheduling of appointments.
It is notable that the app requirements for consumers vary from those of service providers. In essence, the features of doctors and consumer-side modules will be different.
One noteworthy function of consumer module is to offer them to seek the most suitable service. For instance, the app user may seek the treatment of minor or major injury. Thus, the on-demand team will be equipped with the relevant choice of members and apparatus.
Pre-Launch Public Awareness and Post-Launch Marketing
Although the on-demand services have already penetrated deep into major markets, yet businesses still need to familiarize the consumers. The service-providers can use various marketing approaches including social media and paid advertising.
Besides, they can conduct seminars and other public events. Apart from marketing of business, the aim of these events should be eliminating the public concerns regarding this new kind of healthcare services provision.
Let’s Get Started
ODTap wants the on-demand health industry to keep growing. A number of startups and traditional healthcare businesses have been able to attain astonishing revenues after incorporating our on-demand platform.
You can be the next on-demand health services provider in the area of your choice. Even if you are unsure about the business model, contact us today and we will take care of the rest.
