SeekMed is a global telemedicine platform that allows patients worldwide to seek professional and ethical medical advice from India’s eminent award-winning doctors. Founded by two passionate Indians based in the US – Alok Awasthi and Sharad Dubey, the platform operates on a unique premise of enabling access to super specialty consultations. More often than not, tele-consults are limited to primary specialties like ENT, dermatology, or internal medicine, but SeekMed aims to democratize specialty care in India and abroad. Founded in the year 2018, the platform today has over 100 doctors from over 30 plus specialties, including oncology, cardiology, neurology, orthopedics, and ophthalmology.
SeekMed claims to operate with a patient-centric approach and follows a stringent and meticulous procedure for onboarding doctors reviewed by a panel of specialists and advisors. On average, a SeekMed doctor has 30 years of experience and holds senior positions of high responsibility with the institute. They are associated with over 60% of SeekMed doctors in honorary power positions within the industry bodies.
Speaking about the rationale behind this strategy, Alok Awasthi said, “Patient care and welfare is of paramount importance to SeekMed. When we conceived this platform, we wanted to define certain parameters which would organically ensure that the patient derives maximum benefit of services which we offer. Our merit-based doctor onboarding process that is devoid of commercial gains allows us to engage best-in-class clinicians who are renowned in their fields and accomplished in their careers. This not only ensures that our patient community gets the best clinical advice but also helps SeekMed deliver value-based care to our patients. Our doctors are extremely credible, trustworthy and have a reputation which precedes their work.”
Best medical facilities are often associated with higher expenses and spending capability in India. SeekMed is said to be working towards democratizing it by making such clinicians available to the mass public via telemedicine. Additionally, it is essential to note that most patients feel the need to consult super specialists a little later in their medical journey for complex medical conditions.
Talking about the role and importance of seeking second opinions, Awasthi elaborates, “It is imperative to understand that getting expert second opinions is becoming a necessity to improve patient outcomes. It is no longer a luxury in the healthcare journey of a patient, nor reserved for a fortunate few. Healthcare experts strongly recommend that patients should seek second opinion from specialists before taking next steps for any critical and complicated procedure.”
“A 2018 study published in the Annals of Surgical Oncology found that an expert second review changed the diagnosis for 43% of the 70 patients in the study. In 2017, another study showed that 21% of patients who sought second opinion at Mayo Clinic in USA left with a completely new diagnosis and 66% were deemed partly correct but refined by the second doctor. Getting timely second opinion from super specialists can not only save lives but also help patients take better control of their medical decisions. Telemedicine can be a great enabler in such decision-making by empowering patients and adding significant value in their healthcare journey.”
Teleconsultations and telemedicine have the potential to provide ‘healthcare to all’. It has been identified as a powerful solution to solve numerous healthcare problems that nations face irrespective of their size, clinical prowess, technology, or infrastructure development levels.
