Medical tourism is a huge challenge Nigeria has battled for decades. Each year, Nigerians spend around $1 billion on medical treatments abroad.
According to some statistics, the country produces over 2,000 medical doctors yearly with over 30,000 already practicing. So it makes little sense that Nigerians should have to go abroad for quality medical treatments.
One app has emerged to challenge this situation. Meet DokiLink.
DokiLink is a platform that allows Nigerian doctors to connect with each other, seek opinions and collaborate on medical issues. It also allows users to find medical specialists and book appointments with them.
If you need to see a nephrologist for treatment of kidney disease, our platform provides the easiest and most convenient way to schedule an appointment with one
Visit https://t.co/5TtpC8Z4I4 today to book an appointment pic.twitter.com/sr2FKMpoD4
— Dokilink.com (@dokilink) September 19, 2018
“At DokiLink, doctors are able to share the interesting cases they have handled with each other. This leads to a greater awareness among doctors of the treatment options available locally”, says Niyi Osamiluyi, founder of DokiLink.
Niyi believes that an important way of reducing medical tourism is increasing visibility and connectivity among doctors and other medical practitioners.
Launched in 2013, the platform now has over 11,000 registered doctors on its platform.
Book an Appointment with Ease on the DokiLink Platform
The platform makes it very easy for users to connect with medical doctors. Using a slew of interesting features, DokiLink allows Nigerians to find specialists they want or need in any state in the country.
The platform uses interesting personalised and customizable calendars to allow users to fix appointments with doctors. When users find the specialist they need, they see a calendar by the side. Decked in blue and grey, users can fix an appointment by themselves from the days on the calendar. Free days are colored in blue on the calendar. When an appointment is booked, the space is “locked” and a notification is sent to that doctor.
There are only five Neurosurgeons in Lagos State and you can book an appointment with any of them on DokiLink. Just visit https://t.co/5TtpC8Z4I4 today or call 08095907316 to book an appointment.
— Dokilink.com (@dokilink) August 16, 2018
The platform makes its revenue via commissions on booked appointments. DokiLink has also pivoted and now does recruitment for hospitals as well.
Despite its years in operations though, the platform has grown slowly. It clocked 100 appointments in 2017 after 4 years in business.
It expects things to pick up over the next few years as it plans an expansion into other African countries.
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