Beyond the core: how networks are enabling innovation in vertical markets

Dr. Mussaad Al-Razouki

This post is by Dr. Mussaad Al-Razouki, Chairman, AbiDoc

The technologies and business models pitched by the various competing startup ventures at the at the recent Innovation Accelerator, held at the 4th Annual MENA LTE Conference, highlighted the recent focus of mobile operators in addressing various adjacent markets to their core telecom business.

This included aspects related to mobile healthcare, mobile money, online advertising, interactive education models as well as enterprise and cloud mobility solutions, in addition to network infrastructure-centric innovations focused on optimization and services enablement, such as HetNet cooperation, content delivery optimization and software defined mobile networks.

In particular we were delighted that our app AbiDoc, the region’s first ever online direct doctor appointment service, was announced as ‘Most Innovative Mobile Application’.

AbiDoc, means, “I want a doctor” in local colloquial Arabic and enables patients in Kuwait to directly book an appointment with a doctor that best fits their needs. It can be accessed via the web, contact centre, or AbiDoc smartphone apps for iOS and Android.

As part of the LTE MENA conference, 35 applications from around the world were shortlisted with a further six companies invited to present their applications on the 12^th of May. Despite the fierce competition, we are very proud that AbiDoc was selected as the winner by the panel of expert judges that included mobile, telecom and internet executives, investors, and thought leaders from Yahoo, Etisalat, and Noortelecom.

The benefits of using AbiDoc can be summarized as Free, Fast and Reliable:

Free – AbiDoc is and will always be free for patients to use. Whether patients visit www.AbiDoc.com, download the mobile application, or call the contact centre, AbiDoc will not charge patients for the process of booking, rescheduling or canceling an appointment.

Fast – The traditional process of booking an appointment with a doctor can take quite a bit of time. First you have to find the correct phone number, then you have to wait on hold or you might even get a busy signal, and when you finally do get through to the secretary, the doctor might be in surgery, with another patient or may not even take any appointments by the phone. With AbiDoc, you can easily book your first appointment with a certified doctor within twominutes, reschedule an appointment within 10 secondsand cancel an appointment in fiveseconds.

Reliable: All the doctors on AbiDoc have been prescreened by the AbiDoc team and all the information provided is authorized by the doctors themselves. All patient information is kept safe and secure following USA HIPAA standards and is only shared with your doctor and trusted staff. You can also view all your previous visits under your own Patient Accountand this information is only shown to you.

For us a primary objective behind the AbiDoc platform was to highlight the need for increased transparency and accountability in the healthcare system and if that can be extended to other region or other verticals, then well be delighted.