Zoom Video Communications (Zoom) is strategically moving into the region’s healthcare industry and is leveraging independent software vendors (ISVs) in the belief that its app-cum-platform is a key component for virtual healthcare.
Its Head of APAC Ricky Kapur (left in above pic) said that, as the world progresses into virtual healthcare, there is a convergence of healthcare and technology that is set to provide seamless, high-quality experiences for patients.
He described Zoom as being the “one platform for care, collaboration and innovation to drive the future of virtual healthcare”.
“Asia is prime for rapid healthcare change driven by shifting demographics, rising consumer expectations, technological innovation and limited health legacy infrastructure,” said Ricky. “Asia healthcare providers have an unprecedented opportunity to transform the region’s healthcare landscape.”
He added that four major factors are altering healthcare across the region in deep and lasting ways: Changing demographics and healthcare services not as easily accessible in rural populations, rising costs, supply constraints with healthcare workers and rising consumer expectations.
“Against the backdrop, Asian consumers are fully embracing the digital era. They are changing the way healthcare is delivered across the region,” said Ricky at the Driving the Future of Virtual Healthcare webinar held recently.
A Bain’s report said that nearly 50% of patients expect to use digital health tools within the next five years.
Ricky estimates that some 91% of consumers would use digital health services if employers or insurance providers cover costs of healthcare.
“At Zoom, we work closely with healthcare and life sciences customers to understand the essential role that communication plays in patient care, research and development and in operations. With their insights, we improve our platform to create a more frictionless experience for healthcare professionals, for patients, and for families everywhere.”
Towards this end, Zoom believes that the region’s ISV community is a critical component to “reimagine care, collaboration and innovation”.
“It’s the one integrated platform that connects health organisations, with Zoom for Healthcare enabling the healthcare industry to communicate across the continuum of care, meet patients where they are, and enable hybrid workforces to stay connected and agile.”
At the webinar, Zoom Developer Platform Business Development (APAC) Leader Benjamin Lim (right in above pic) also shared about the company’s developer platform and the tools available to them.
He described the Zoom developer platform as the “one platform, one experience and one provider” that enables the workforce of the future, connect workstreams while extending reach to communities.
“Zoom is the platform that people around the world rely on for accessing the services they use for their own lives – whether that’s healthcare, banking, school for themselves or their kids, or joining their favourite workout class,” said Benjamin.
“From the healthcare use case perspective, we are seeing a lot of platform integration where meeting experiences are brought in to enable virtual clinics, TeleConsults and healthcare follow ups embedded into ISV solutions.”
In the case of OnCall Health, the Zoom ISV was able to integrate Zoom into their platform to offer to their customers as a value-added service.
Based in Toronto Canada, OnCall Health is a virtual care solution vendor that enables healthcare clinics, brands, and enterprises to launch and manage what it describes as ‘exceptional virtual care programmes’.
Benjamin also cited another Zoom ISV, ACME Healthcare, which had successfully created a healthcare workflow app that allows doctors to manage their patients, records and workflows associated with their patients.
“ACME provides this tool to end customers for a subscription price. ACME’s customers have asked to have Telehealth as a “feature” in their platform. Since ACME doesn’t build a video conferencing tool, they wanted to integrate one, Zoom in this case, into their application and offer it as part of their subscription,” said Benjamin.