Cigna Corporation and Doctor Anywhere roll out digital telehealth service

It aims to reduce travelling and waiting time by offering virtual appointments.

Cigna Corporation’s Singapore arm unveiled Cigna Virtual Clinic and Doctor Anywhere unveiled a digital telehealth platform that provides customers mobile application access to Singapore-registered doctors.

This platform will improve the manner of how patients consult with doctors, reducing travelling and waiting time by offering ready access to consultations and appointments. Delivery services also maximize this initiative that makes door-to-door delivery of medications to patients within three hours of their virtual appointment.

Doctor Anywhere and Cigna will team up through data integration, tracking and analytics, to determine actionable insights from key behaviours and trends. This initiative comes on the back of Singapore’s growing ageing population and, consequently, an increase in healthcare expenditure to $33.3b by 2020, according to Frost and Sullivan data.

In response to the increasing healthcare needs effectuated by the ageing population, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat earlier unveiled an $8.2b fund that will support healthcare for those born in the 1950s, which comes from an earlier pledge to set aside $10.2b for healthcare expenditure.

“An ageing population, a preference for innovative medicines, and the population's access to new and advanced healthcare technologies will result in the continued growth of Singapore’s pharmaceutical market,” analysts at Fitch Solutions said. Currently, there are 500,000 people aged over 65 in Singapore. By 2030, the ageing population will rise to 900,000 which will level more tension on healthcare infrastructure, Fitch Solutions stated.

According to Lim Wai Mun, founder and CEO of Doctor Anywhere, the parties are aiming to extend their partnership beyond the region to provide integrated and personalied healthcare for the general public.