Bangkok-based startup, HD, is getting into the sharing economy, but in the context of healthcare in Southeast Asia.
Their platform helps connect three parties: surgeons with private practice, patients looking for affordable surgical procedures, and vacant operating rooms in hospitals.
Co-founder and CEO Sheji Ho got the idea in Thailand where he observed surgeons advertising on Facebook to attract private customers.
According to Ho, dual practice is very common for doctors in SEA: “They get the credential from working for top hospitals, but they are paid poorly, so they also work at private ones where they get the money.”
He added that patients have to wait a long time when they go to public hospitals, prompting doctors to get patients to go to private institutions.
The WHO reported that 40% of SEA’s health expenses were paid out of pocket, due to a lack of a central platform providing cost transparency.
When COVID-19 broke out, many surgical rooms in Thailand freed up due to the loss of international patients, as well as the hospital-building spree that occurred before the pandemic.
HD directs customers to these hospitals, allowing for lower room rates. Customers could now get various surgeries at 15 to 20% less than market prices.
At present, HD has more than 20 operating rooms in Thailand and Indonesia and is looking to get more from over 1,500 HCPs already on its platform. They also have more than 40 types of surgeries lined up.
This surgery platform is already in addition to their original business: a marketplace for outpatient services, a model that has worked in China.
“In general, HD prioritizes minimally invasive, short-stay, elective surgeries that have low output variation such as thyroid and hemorrhoid surgery, in addition to outpatient procedures,” explained Ho.
Since the business’ inception four years ago, HD has served some 250,000 patients. It also experienced 7x sales growth during the pandemic and is eyeing a growth rate of 2-3x in the post-COVID era.
