A technology-based company, Medpay, has taken a strong step in establishing the largest connected network of healthcare providers to bring the digital ecosystem within unorganised standalone OPD centres. Because the majority of clinics and pharmacies in the country are not digitally equipped, Medpay is certain to offer a variety of benefits such as cashless services, discounts, home deliveries, and so on.
During the pandemic, many clinics and pharmacies were not part of insurance cashless networks. Also, many local OPD centres were not discoverable online, while several pharmacies were shut down during the pandemic because they were not enabled to accept digital orders. Also, every year, over 5.5 crores of the population fall into poverty as a result of self-paid OPD expenses. As per the sources, almost 70% of healthcare delivery comes from primary healthcare, otherwise known as the Out-Patient Department. Due to its unorganised nature, the technological services in OPD is highly difficult. Thus, by establishing API infrastructure, one can easily access the large network of physical OPD centres nearby. Also, several corporate staff have relocated to tier 2 and 3 cities from metropolitan areas, but healthcare providers were able to provide seamless OPD services to their patients through Medpay.
Speaking about the specific features of Medpay, the co-founder and CEO, Mr Ravi Chandra, told The Daily Guardian, “The API access for each of the OPD services assists the healthcare businesses to build their own customer experience. Being part of the MedPay network, the OPD centres are able to digitally accept and fulfil the requirements of the nearby customers, thus creating value for the entire ecosystem.” For example, insurance firms can use MedPay APIs to provide the insured with a vast OPD network for cashless treatments. It aggregates demand from many partners and uses this network to fulfil service requests, hence increasing the value of standalone centres.
Many healthcare businesses, such as insurers, consultation platforms, employee health benefits platforms, and other B2C companies, have limited access to this unorganised market and build products targeting OPD services. Since MedPay operates a 2-sided marketplace, it enables the OPD centres to be a part of the digital ecosystem while partnering with insurers and business-to-consumer (B2C) companies.
So far, MedPay has processed over USD 3 million in total OPD payments in one year.