As with most other industries, the healthcare industry has also incorporated technology and revolutionized healthcare parameters for both doctors and patients in Pakistan. Having more than 70% population living in rural areas, telemedicine enables them to find expert doctors online and receive treatment remotely.

The biggest dilemma people face in rural regions is inaccessibility to medical facilities and qualified doctors. This is why different telemedicine stations have been set up in various villages to facilitate the residents of the vicinity so that they can access qualified healthcare professionals.

Now you can find expert doctors online with online healthcare services. Telemedicine is a great way to provide better health care facilities to the people of the otherwise ignored, underprivileged, and neglected areas.

Today, everyone is busy, whether they live in the city or village and constraints on time and resources makes telemedicine all the more favorable. It’s a quick and convenient way to get medical advice from expert doctors online on the go! No more waiting hours at a clinic for a minor health problem. Experts say that more than 80% of your health problems can easily be solved online.
This article will review the top 10 telemedicine platforms in Pakistan and hopefully help you pick the right one for you.

1.Ring a doctor: At ring a doctor you can access an online doctor at any time of the day. You download the app on your smartphone, register a free account and request to call a doctor of your choosing. Each consultation lasts 10 minutes and after a consultation, you will be given a prescription. It is associated with Integrated Health Services (IHS), Islamabad, with over 100 PMDC-verified doctors on the panel, and 22 years of on-ground experience.

2.Marham: This is one of the most expansive telemedicine platforms in Pakistan with a social media base of hundreds of thousands. It is a digital platform that brings together professionals from all across Pakistan at one forum. Most people resort to Marham for a second opinion or general questions and queries about health problems. Marham has a panel of expert doctors online that people can connect to at any time od the day.

3.iCliniq: Another popular telehealth company is iCliniq. This is an online doctor consultation platform where users can get medical advice from doctors. They provide various channels for contacting doctors online. They can post their health query on social media or booking a slot for real-time face-to-face consultation over HD video and phone (it will be a private/secure call back). You can use their service to consult with highly qualified physicians from
home.

4.Augment care The Augment care team aims to uphold the highest standards when approving physicians to practice in the online doctor consultation service. Expert doctors online are verified to ensure that they are fully licensed so that they can provide care of the highest quality. Their goal is to provide online healthcare service where any patient can receive consultation irrespective of their geographical location.

5.My live doctors: Despite being a relatively new telehealth platform in Pakistan, it has grown exponentially in popularity. My live doctors has an extremely interactive space on social media. It has a Facebook page as well as a Facebook group/community of established healthcare professionals. You can download the app on your smartphone and find expert doctors online for a second opinion, medical advice or for regular monitoring of a chronic illness. My live doctors has also set up a station in a rural area to make expert doctors online more accessible to the masses.

6.Oladoc: To bridge the gap between doctors and patients, Oladoc takes on a responsible role to overcome the lack of health facilities and difficulties people generally face like time to reach health facilities at faraway places, cost of reaching at a health care facility, and transportation needed to move around for the treatment/consulting purpose. Oladoc believes that telemedicine could be used for safe and quality healthcare by expert doctors online.

7.Awami chat: With most of the world actively participating on social media, Awami chat is an online doctor’s chat room where medical questions and queries can be asked online. You can chat with expert doctors online and connect to different specialists across Pakistan. Telemedicine services could be provided through video sharing, image sharing, mobile services or by e-mail. A research study was conducted to analyze the implementation and to explore the benefits of telemedicine in Pakistan.

8.Cliniconline: This platform provides homeopathic online healthcare services. They claim to treat various diseases with homeopathic treatment like acidity, acne, gout, fissure and hemorrhoids. Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine that is very popular in Pakistan. So, if you’re looking for an alternative treatment method for your health condition, try to find it at cliniconlnie.

9.Peeru clinic: Peeru Clinic offers professional doctors a platform to utilize their skills and examine patients from the comfort of their home. This way they get an opportunity to reach a much larger community than they can otherwise. Their moto is ‘health is wealth’ and value each patient. They offer online consultation and prescription to solve health problems.

10.SehtYab: Once a popular telehealth platform, it has recently closed down and are no longer providing online healthcare services.

Hope this review will make it easier for you to choose the best online healthcare service provider. Connect with expert doctors online today and get treated quicker and cheaper from the convenience of your own home!

Author's Bio: 

Dr. Abigail Kane MD is a graduate of George Washington University school of medicine. Dr. Kane trained in the department of cardiology during her residency. During her residency she was able to provide utmost care and consultation which resulted in an overall improvement of the department. Dr. Kane has been practicing as a cardiologist in California since 1997. She currently has 7 publications in the American Journal of Cardiology and has co-authorships involving other publications. Her practice focuses on new research in the field of Cardiology in accordance with published clinical trials. Most of her treatment strategies are evidence based as her are research papers. She has always been a career-driven, ambitious individual with high aspirations. Dr. Kane is listed as a major contributor in the publication that featured the therapeutic effects of a new cardio-protective drug that may be used in preventive cardiology. Currently Dr. Kane hold various certifications from the American Board of Internal Medicine and she was also recognized with an award for her work in cardiology research.