Great Eastern taps Doctor Anywhere for Singapore-wide GP consultations

Great Eastern (GE) has strengthened its partnership with health-tech company Doctor Anywhere (DA) to bring online and offline general practitioner (GP) consultations island-wide to more of its customers, particularly during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Policyholders of its Integrated Shield Plan – Great SupremeHealth – can now look forward to a $12 consultation fee that covers online and offline GP services. Since April this year, they have been able to enjoy this preferential rate for both online video consultation service as well as walk-ins to see doctors from DA’s panel of over 300 GP clinics.

This latest move by Great Eastern is aligned to its attention to customer needs in view of the escalating COVID-19 situation. In the first quarter of 2020, telemedicine services have risen in popularity among Singaporeans who prefer to seek medical attention through online consultations.

From January to March, there was a 41% increase in total sign-ups to use DA video consultation service and an 89% increase in total calls made among the GE group insurance customers. DA has been GE’s health and wellness service provider for its group insurance customers since August 2019.

“With increasing public concerns about visiting GP clinics during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have broadened our shield insurance coverage beyond hospitalisation to provide convenient island-wide GP coverage via video consultation and panel clinics for our Great SupremeHealth policyholders,” said Patrick Kok, managing director of group operations at Great Eastern.

DA’s 24/7 video consultation platform allows users to skip long clinic waiting queues to consult a Singapore-licensed doctor anytime, anywhere, with medication delivered to their home within hours. Medical history, health reports, and other documents are stored in-app for easy access. For conditions that require a more thorough diagnosis, patients may visit a panel clinic for a physical consultation.

Lim Wai Mun, CEO of Doctor Anywhere, said the agreement is a pre-cursor to further investment into technological solutions to improve the patient experience and quality of healthcare.

Both companies will continue to leverage on each other’s platforms to improve healthcare and wellness coverage to customers, including corporate clients in the employee benefit space, as well as individual consumers.