- Abu Dhabi-based healthcare startup provides a fully digital experience, from a virtual doctor consultation at the tap of a button to prescription delivery and ongoing care.
- About 20m people in the region are living with at least one chronic condition, co-founder about 20 million people in the region are living with at least one chronic condition says.
- The startup to enter Dubai and Saudi Arabia soon.
Many people live with chronic conditions that can not only be stressful and lonely but also filled with prescriptions, appointments, and wasting hours in crowded waiting rooms to see a doctor and finally with eyes popping out to an unexpected medical bill.
Necessity is the mother of all inventions, as said by many experts, and it turned out to be true in the case of Khaldoon Bushnaq, Co-founder of Abu Dhabi-based healthcare startup – Alma Health.
Bushnaq suffered a herniated disc or a slipped disc in his neck and back and had an inefficient experience at the hospital.
“I went to a doctor and a pharmacy and I realised how inefficient the experience is, from a booking time to see the doctor and then going down to the pharmacy. I realised how inefficient the processes are and thought about other people who have much more serious chronic conditions such as heart problems, diabetics, hypertension, etc.,” he told TechChannel News in an exclusive interview.
After recognising that there is a gap in chronic condition management, he said that he and his partner – Tariq Seksek – started the company in May 2020 to transform the lives of people with chronic conditions.
“The goal is to limit the time you spend managing your condition to an absolute minimum for the rest of their lives with a fully digital experience,” Bushnaq said.
Seamless experience
Alma Health was created to have a “seamless healthcare experience” from doctor consultation, to delivery of medication, to ongoing care and started offering their services in Abu Dhabi in January this year.
“Our vision is to create a world in which your chronic conditions do not complicate your life while managing your health is as easy as a click of a few buttons,” he said.
The top five chronic conditions in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are diabetics, hypertension, heart diseases, asthma and obesity while diabetes and hypertension are the two main conditions people live with within the UAE, Bushnaq said.
Unfortunately, he said the region has the highest number of chronic conditions in the world.
According to the ministry of health authorities in the region, about 20 million people in the region are living with at least one chronic condition.
“We own healthcare assets and healthcare licenses and have our teams. Alma is accredited by many reputable insurance providers in the region such as Thiqa, Daman, NAS Neuron and Oman Insurance,” he said.
The user’s healthcare specialists, insurance providers and Alma Health’s physicians and pharmacists are all connected through the Alma Health Operating System.
On a growth trajectory
Bushnaq said that their doctors are based in Abu Dhabi, licensed by the Abu Dhabi Department of Health, and seeing patients in the Emirate.
Alma has five full-time GPs and partners with many specialists on a part-time basis.
The startup is entering Dubai and Saudi Arabia soon.
“We are in the process of finalising several healthcare licenses in different GCC countries. Saudi Arabia is a major market as at least 12 million people are living with at least one chronic condition and we believe that Alma can play a big role,” Bushnaq said.
Moreover, he said that they are on a growth trajectory and would like to maintain the 10 per cent growth week on week that currently is, if not accelerating.
“We are growing the team, in terms of clinicians and software developers. We are patiently obsessed, following Amazon’s mantra to be customer-obsessed. What differentiates us from the crowd is that we are not a platform, we are a healthcare company.”
The platform does the hard work to fulfil the patient’s prescription, bill the insurance provider, prepare various medications and deliver them straight to the doorstep within 24 hours.
“We will also remind you when your prescription is due for a renewal,” Bushnaq said.
Telehealth is future of healthcare
Since its launch, Alma Health has received two funding from Hambro Perks – the Oryx Fund, a global venture fund backing early-stage companies with a particular focus on healthtech, other investors include the Oman Technology Fund – Wadi, an Omani sovereign wealth fund, as well as strategic angel investors from Saudi and the UAE.
“We plan to raise the next round soon and are speaking to investors,” Bushnaq said.
He added that the telehealth concept has changed a lot due to Covid-19 and believes that telehealth will become the future of healthcare and the adoption rate will accelerate.
“Covid-19 was a trigger to try telehealth and the pandemic give a fire to grow faster. Once people get the taste of telehealth, there is no way of going back to the offline world.
“We see a future where 90 per cent of the healthcare services provided to a person with a chronic condition are offered either digitally or offered at home. There is no need for a person to go to a hospital for urgent care,” he said.
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