Telehealth Use Increased In The PH

Global mobile industry organization GSMA cited Globe Telecom Inc. in its latest report for providing health solutions for millions of Filipinos during the pandemic.

GSMA’S 96-page “2022 Mobile Industry Impact Report: Sustainable Developments” report mentioned KonsultaMD, Globe’s subscription-based 24/7 telemedicine service, that reached more than one million members in 2021.

While telehealth and medicine delivery provider, HealthNow, processed 20,000 medicine delivery orders daily and administered over one million COVID-19 vaccines.

The report revealed that 2.1 billion people worldwide used their phones to improve or monitor their health, representing an increase of 270 million people since 2020.

When the pandemic magnified weaknesses in the healthcare system, remote, viral solutions filled the gap according to GSMA.

The challenges of the past year were due to “geopolitical upheaval, rising inflation, and the effect of the climate crisis affecting billions around the world,” the organization said.

Globe Group President and CEO Ernest Cu emphasized how “Connectivity has become a lifeline to Filipinos as we recover from the pandemic, which accelerated our shift to becoming a more digital society.”

“Globe has been at the forefront of the Philippines’ digital transformation, bringing together innovation and sustainability to deliver life-enabling services in fintech, edutech, healthtech, and business solutions that propel the country’s inclusive growth and development,” he added.

In July, three health apps – KonsultaMD, HealthNow, and AIDE –  merged to become a centralized health super-app under KonsultaMD. 

The new super-app will be launched in the first quarter of 2023.

Source: Manila Bulletin