Digital health has experienced significant growth in recent years. Perhaps after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the excitement around digital health has somewhat subsided, but the positive developments in this field are still ongoing.
Appointment scheduling, as one of the subcategories of digital health, is a service that has found its niche in Iran.
According to IDEA, Boghrat’s online health platform, as one of the active platforms in the digital health sector, offering various services including clinic management, appointment scheduling, online counseling, etc., has announced the registration of 700,000 appointments in its system.
Mehrsad Timouri, CEO and co-founder of Boghrat, emphasized that from the very beginning when Boghrat was designed and introduced for clinic management, appointment scheduling has been one of the essential services provided by this service to both patients and doctors. He said, “Patient reception and presence at the specified time are important for both the patient and the doctor. Certainly, the Boghrat system does not revolve solely around appointment scheduling, but as an integral part of Boghrat, appointment scheduling has always been of special importance to us.”
Boghrat’s CEO went on to explain the appointment scheduling models employed by Boghrat: “From day one, we started our work with the traditional appointment scheduling model, which involves patients being received by a receptionist. Later, we made efforts to provide an online platform for doctors, allowing patients to schedule their appointments online.
Furthermore, Boghrat’s voice assistant was added to the services, allowing patients of all ages to register their first preferred appointment for a visit with a doctor through phone guidance by a robot. Naturally, traditional appointment scheduling, or scheduling by a receptionist, remains more popular than the other models.
This is not limited to Iran; worldwide, appointment scheduling by a receptionist has the highest usage rate.” Timouri explained that within a one-month period in Shahrivar (August-September), Boghrat was able to set a different record in the field of appointment scheduling in the digital health sector by registering 700,000 appointments. He added, “Naturally, among these 700,000 appointments registered on the Boghrat online health platform, the majority are made through traditional appointment scheduling. However, the promising aspect is the significant share of online appointment scheduling and the voice assistant.
It indicates that healthcare centers and patients are increasingly inclined to use digital services because nowadays patients are well aware of the value of their time and do not want to wait for hours on the phone to secure an appointment. Instead, they prefer to achieve results with a few clicks in the shortest possible time.
Certainly, online appointment scheduling and the voice assistant require more cultural adoption. Boghrat is striving to not only provide services but also contribute to the cultural shift in this regard because, as a key player in the digital health sector, it strongly feels its responsibility in expanding the digital health market.” As for the question of the timeframe for this appointment scheduling record, Timouri emphasized, “Generally, new centers are added to the Boghrat system each month, and existing centers transfer their appointment scheduling system to Boghrat.
This process has progressively boosted our growth curve. However, in normal circumstances, Saturdays are the days when we can usually tell whether we have broken our previous week’s record or not because most appointments and visits to medical centers take place on Saturdays.” In conclusion, Timouri emphasized the future of digital health and the increasing adoption of online appointment scheduling among patients, stating, “All analyses and predictions indicate that digital health is not only on the rise in Iran but also worldwide. There is a nascent market in this field that has not yet reached saturation, and we can be hopeful about the future and the attractiveness of its market.
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