TuMédico

What makes your solution innovative?

There are 5 points which make the solution TuMédico innovative like following: 

1. Accessibility: 47% of our population in Colombia do not have a premium insurance subscription and they have to rely on the general one that does not offer virtual services and waiting times are of at least 7 business days on average for a basic medical consultation. Even though there are many telemedicine services available on the internet, however, the internet penetration rate in Colombia is only 65% according to Our World in Data (Individuals using the Internet (% of population) by 2019) compared to the rate in the South Korea 97%, UK 93%, US 89%, EU 86% and OECD members 83%. It signifies that the low-income population and population in the rural areas or small villages do not have easy access to the internet to find any information about telemedicine service. That is why we started the alliance with the 3 largest pharmacy chains in Colombia, Copservir, Coopidrogas and Droxi, local pharmacies and local Mom and Pop´s stores so that we can reach people who need a medical consultation. We are the ONLY telemedicine service in Colombia that provides the service through these channels and covers almost every corner of Colombia with 1,309 points of sale (as in feb, 2022). We are doing our best to make the service accessible to everyone regardless of their income, who they are and where they are, making the process as easy as buying a bottle of water at the pharmacy or grocery store next door.

2. Medication Delivery: TuMédico's medical consultation service is integrated with the Pharmacy Saludtools medication module. This allows a patient to acquire the medications prescribed by their doctor without having to leave their home and at an excellent price. The patient does not have to register, search for medications, step on a pharmacy or download an application, just with a single click, they can receive their medications through the service integration between TuMédico and Pharmacy Saludtools. Thanks to our partnerships with the largest pharmacy chain in Colombia, Copservir (la rebaja droguerías, 977 sales points), we can not only offer the medication delivery service but also provide a 10% special discount on their medications to our patients, given that our target population is living in the underserved communities. 

3. Constant improvement of the customer journey: we constantly learn from our patients. We do constant interviews with them to know what are the pain points of the customer and how to improve our customer journey. Here are three points that we have achieved.

   1. No sign up, no verification code: TuMédico used to have a registration process and a verification code for the purchase of the service. However, our patients expressed that these processes were not easy to follow. Therefore, we completely removed these parts. For the sign up, we receive the basic information of the patients and our service team registers them in our system and we confirm the sales with the pharmacies directly and automatically, without putting our patients to work. 

   2. No downloads: TuMédico used to have an app only for the video consultation. However, based on our research, we have found that 70% of our patients have difficulty in downloading an application due to a low internet connection or mobile device problem and it delays the consultation at least 13 minutes. Therefore, we completely eliminated the application even though it was a huge amount of investment in the beginning of prototyping the solution. Now, patients will receive a WhatsApp message, SMS and email right before the consultation with the link and all they have to do is click on the link and talk to our doctor to consult their health problem. 

4. Service that would make patients comfortable, great customer experience: 

   1. Own team of doctors: TuMédico has its own team of doctors. Our doctors, in addition to having all the suitability and credentials to practice their specialties, are trained in Telemedicine and patient care, which guarantees our excellent customer service. The medical team is headed by Dr. Natalia Malaver, a nephrologist and internist at the Javeriana University. Since it is a team of doctors of TuMédico, in case one patient wants to continue his/her follow up with a specific doctor again, it is possible without any problem. 

   2. No chatbot: As one of the characteristics of the local customer, Colombians prefer and like to speak with the service team in a direct and personal way, not through a chat bot. For example, senior citizens and people from rural areas who are not familiar with the service would like to ask questions through calls to make sure that the service would work for them. We understand the situation given that TuMédico is a new and innovative service for Colombia, therefore, we postponed the plan to use a chatbot in terms of customer service to make our patients feel more comfortable. Rather, we created a customer service guide so that our service team can answer questions without any delay.

   3. In extreme cases: If patients do not have an internet connection, TuMédico can provide the service through their home phone only with their consent. If patients do not have email or access to email, we also send all post-consultation documentation (medical history, prescription, test recommendations, certificates...) via WhatsApp only with their consent. 

5. Proprietary technology, Saludtools: TuMédico offers the patient a simple, friendly but very robust technology that guarantees 100% confidential and secure communication.

What are your impact goals for the next year and the next five years, and how will you achieve them?

Impact goal for the next year

1. Expanding the market to one of Latin America countries where there is ineuqliaty situation in healthcare system and where Saludtools already has a presence in (for example, Peru or Mexico) to cover more people who are in need of medical consultation service. 

2. Establishing the first government partnership to cover more people in rural areas in Colombia 

3. Attending 20.000 patients total (currently, 7,059 patients are attended as in feb, 2022)

4. NPS > 85%, satisfaction 9,5/10

Impact goal for the next 5 years

1. Expanding the market to at least 3 or 4 of Latin America countries where there are ineuqliaty situations in healthcare system and where Saludtools already has a presence in (for example, Peru Mexico, Ecuador, Argentina or  Venezuela) to cover more people who are in need of medical consultation service

2. Attending at least 120.000 patients total 

3. Making the business sustainable so that the solution can provide the service with more economic value to our patients 

4. NPS > 87%, satisfaction 9,7/10 every year

5. Achieving the official local autorizaciones to operate as a medical clinic. 

How are you measuring your progress toward your impact goals?

# of people who are in our reach based on the markets that the solution is available

• # of target population who are in our reach 

• # of patients attended by the solution

• NPS and satisfaction

What is your theory of change?

Starting with a problem, inequality of the healthcare system in Colombia, we began to build a service model to meet the needs of patients and make healthcare more accessible, affordable, timely and user-friendly for all. Whoever patients are, wherever they are and whenever they are, we need to cover the needs of patients that the current health system is not covering.

        Activities: 

1. Main activity: Providing the virtual medical consultation 

2. Target population:  (1) People who do not have easy access to the health system in Colombia, such as people in rural areas or small towns where most ethnic minorities live and people with disabilities. This accounts for an approximate 23.5M patients just in Colombia. (2) People with low/medium income, people who find it difficult to leave their job for a day to go to the doctor's office. (3) People who require an important (but not urgent) medical consultation or who prefer not to wait at least 7 business days to speak to a doctor. (4) People who do not have access to the health system in Colombia such as travelers, immigrants, people who cannot afford it and others.

3. Sales channel expansion: New partnerships with (1)Mom and Pop´s stores, Chiper (2) Pharmacy chains, Copservir (La rebaja droguería), Coopidrogas, droxi and (3) independent pharmacies and creating online web page, https://www.tumedico.com.co/

4. Marketing activities: (1) to general public: radio, social media activities (Live, posts, videos), distribution of explication and promotion materials of the service (2) to pharmacies: introduction session to sales forces of pharmacies, special commission, regular calls, mystery shopper visits and distribution of explication and promotion materials of the service

Outputs

1. Proving the needs of the solution in target population and the interest of pharmacies

2. Proving the business model works and improving the business operation

3. Improving the customer journey and customer experience 

4. Raising the awareness of video medical consultation and also the brand, TuMédico

Short-term outcomes

1. Reaching more than 300 municipalities in Colombia

2. Attending 7,059 patients 

3. NPS: 88% and satisfaction 9,6/10

4. Established the concrete business model which can be scalable and sustainable

Long-term outcomes

1. Establishing partnerships with government organizations to expand the customer reach in Colombia

2. Expanding the market from Colombia to at least 9 countries in Latin America

3. Attending more than 2,000,000 patients

Describe the core technology that powers your solution.

TuMédico connects patients with medical consultation service through Saludtools, technology that is 100% confidential, reliable and in accordance with all the regulations that regulate this matter in the country. All our medical services have the authorizations before the REPS, Secretaries of Health and other applicable entities, as well as the authorizations indicated by the regulations: Resolution 2654 of 2019 and Resolution 3100 of 2019.

Since TuMedico came from an experiment done in 2020 from Saludtools (www.saludtools.com) one of the strong points of TuMedico is its technology. Our platform (Saludtools) is currently used by 7.040 healthcare providers in Latam in 2 million medical encounters so far. We use Saludtools technology for scheduling, medical record taking, telemedicine and document management. Since we are essentially the same company we use the software for free and allow us to grow in technology with expending valuable resources in this aspect and at the same time we have a compliant, high performance tool for our own use.If you want to see a full description of Saludtools security and tech stack, you can find it here (spanish): 

https://bit.ly/3t8WvLh

Which of the following categories best describes your solution?

A new business model or process that relies on technology to be successful

Please select the technologies currently used in your solution:

• Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning
• Software and Mobile Applications

https://www.tumedico.com.co/

Which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals does your solution address?

• 3. Good Health and Well-being

What type of organization is your solution team?

For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models

How many people work on your solution team?

In our solution team, TuMédico, we have 6 team members in administration and commercial and we have 18 doctors in the doctors´team and the CMO: 14 general doctors and 4 specialist doctors (1 gynecologist, 2 Internist, 1 Pediatrics), led by doctor Natalia Malaver, a nephrologist and internist at the Javeriana University with 20 years of experience.

How long have you been working on your solution?

TuMedico started as an experiment from Saludtools back in 2020. Currently, we have 6

What is your approach to incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusivity into your work?

During the recent couple of years, especially from the pandemic, the company started to grow exponentially not only in terms of business but also in human resources. Therefore, we are now establishing the goal to make the company more diverse, equitable and inclusive and our current approach is following: 

1. TuMédico provides equal and fair opportunity to all candidates and all employees. We consider qualified applicants for employements without regard to race, age, color, religion, national origin, marital status, disability, gender, sexual orientacion, gender identity/expression or any other legally protected factor. 

2. TuMédico provides the benefit program to all members, focusing on personal growth, job stability, emotional stability and benefits that allow the members to grow with the organization and at the same time have quality of life for their activities outside the office/home. This program is specifically designed based on the work from home culture due to the fact that 100% of our employees currently work from home since the pandemic. Therefore, its objective is to help team members have all the possible benefits of creating their work environment at home with all the necessary tools. Moreover, to make sure that team members can keep their close relationship with each other and to overcome any limit or restriction of working from home, TuMédico is organizing a constant virtual meeting about new employees introduction and any personal news to celebrate together (birthdays, weddings and/or new members of their family…). 

3. Currently, TuMédico is a woman-led team: the leader is Lucy Jun, originally from South Korea, worked in Korea, US, Spain and now in Colombia. Additionally, the leadership team of the Saludtools consists of 11 members: 4 nationalities (Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina and Korea), 55% of women, covering sales, marketing, product, technology, customer onboarding, customer service, human resources and more.

What is your business model?

The business model is quite simple. Revenues are primarily marketed through three channels: (1) local pharmacies and local Mom and Pop´s stores (2) corporate alliances, and (3) the website. There is no subscription model, so patients can buy their medical consultation when they need it. The service is by video medical consultation, but in the event that patients cannot carry out the video consultation due to a problem with their cell phone or the Internet, in this case we also try to provide the service through a call (cell phone or landline) with their consent. The cost side has three parts, too: (1) Medical Costs (workforce) (2) the commission for pharmacies or businesses, and (3) the cost of administration and marketing.

We have 4 parties involved in the business model: (1) Saludtools, technology provider. Since it is our proprietary technology, there is no cost to use the tool. Our best interest is to provide the best healthcare experience with safe, high quality and friendly technology. (2) local pharmacies and local Mom and Pop´s shops. Their main interest is to provide the telemedicine service to their clients and by doing so earn the sales commission. Additionally, in the case of pharmacies, the sale of medicines based on the prescription after consultation is another of the interests. (3) Corporate (alliances): provide the telemedicine service to its indirect collaborator (not official employees) whom company benefit programs do not cover, to take care of their health. (4) Patients: their needs are to receive medical attention to take care of their health or that of their family rapidly without having to spend a lot of time traveling to the doctor's office or waiting in the office or without experiencing any inequality in the healthcare system. They prefer to receive good service: the doctor listening to their concerns, problems, symptoms and solving them together with empathy. 

Do you primarily provide products or services directly to individuals, to other organizations, or to the government?

What is your plan for becoming financially sustainable?

As a reference of common revenue models (https://learn.marsdd.com/article/social-enterprise-business-models/), TuMédico is closely applied to Low income client business model and Fee for service model. With the B2C part, we have created the service distribution system, diversifying the sales channel by partnering various pharmacy chains in Colombia, and also have an advantage in production cost due to the virtual consultation model. TuMédico achieves a gross margin of 25% according to this channel distribution. The service is now rentable in terms of gross margin. We are currently working on the marketing costs and operating efficiencies to be financially sustainable. Currently, the marketing costs are the big part of our expenses due to the early phase of the product life cycle. 

With the B2B part, we have been providing the service of TuMédico through various alliances, such as Red Cross cundinamarca Colombia, Hocol, Castrol, Bavaría (AB InBev) and more. We provide the service to their patients or employees or collaborators. 

To become financially sustainable, TuMédico should be focusing on the maximization of the revenue. To maximize the revenue, TuMédico needs more service sales through B2C and B2B. In order to achieve this, we are trying to establish a close relationship with all the pharmacies by calls, visits, mystery shopper activities, training about the service to new sales forces and co-marketing projects. Moreover, we are doing an investigation for service contracts with government organizations. Secondly, it is needed to have more B2B partnerships which could guarantee more revenue. In terms of cost, the cost optimization in the marketing cost such as printed advertisement, digital ads and participation of marketing events. 

Share some examples of how your plan to achieve financial sustainability has been successful so far.

In 2020,  we were prototyping the solution TuMédico through various experiments with potential partners, listening to the potential customers and clients, improving the customer journey, establishing the business/financial model and operation, designing strategies for business development and marketing and expanding the network to find growth opportunities. Based on this, the year 2021 was the time when TuMédico started to achieve financial sustainability. TuMédico started to sell the service through 1.000 point of sales in Colombia through partnerships with the two largest pharmacy chains in Colombia and achieved the sales through various alliances with corporations such as the Red Cross, Allianz, IGS and much more. Therefore, TuMédico achieved a 1392% increase in the number of consultation sales in 2021 YOY.

Moreover, we have won the Novartis´ Challenge, Reto Innovation Que Late (innovation challenge that beats) in 2021, receiving the prize of USD $ 30.000 for the service development and the 3 months of mentoring program.