Proximus, CM/MC and Solidaris/SocMut are planning to cooperate in strengthening the development of the local ecosystem around Doktr
The health insurance funds Christelijke Mutualiteit/Mutualité chrétienne (CM/MC) and Solidaris/SocMut are putting their weight behind Doktr, Proximus’s video consultation app. The aim of the alliance is to contribute to the development of a future-oriented hybrid care model in which all patients have access to affordable and high-quality care and in which the needs and wishes of doctors and care providers are taken into account. By working together with the local ecosystem, Doktr wants to develop further into a fully-fledged player in the range of healthcare services on offer to facilitate video consultations in an accessible, safe and user-friendly manner.
Doktr, pioneer in hybrid-care, in a safe way and with an eye on privacy
The Doktr app for video consultations, which was launched by Proximus in June 2021, enables patients to consult a qualified physician easily and safely online via video, thanks to access via itsme®. When it comes to privacy, patients do not have to worry either: the doctor with whom the patient is in contact will always ask the patient’s permission to see the medical file and, if desired, can also add a note to the file informing the regular family doctor about the consultation.
Doktr played a pioneering role during the coronavirus crisis by enabling patients to continue to consult a doctor, even in times of lockdown. Thanks to its innovative character, Doktr responds to the needs of patients, who do not always have to travel to visit a doctor, as well as those of the doctor, by helping to relieve the pressure on the Belgian healthcare system.
Since its launch, the app has been downloaded close to 150,000 times and now has 30,000 registered users, with a 93% satisfaction rate. CM/MC and Solidaris/SocMut are convinced of the importance of these types of applications for the transition to a hybrid care model and are therefore joining Doktr. Both organizations will also put the app in the spotlight among their members. In practical terms, Doktr will function as a separate entity. This new entity, which retains the Doktr name, will employ around ten full-time employees, all dedicated to ensuring a quality, safe and user-friendly experience for healthcare provider and patient.
Close cooperation with the Belgian healthcare ecosystem creates new developments, such as the recent integration of the permanent physician-patient relationship
The aim of the app is to ensure that video consultations become fully complementary to physical consultations and serve patients and doctors in a hybrid care model. All developments take place in consultation with the health actors in Belgium in order to create a real local ecosystem that supports the specific Belgian healthcare model.
Feedback from the field will always be taken into account. At the beginning of this year, for example, a function was implemented to enable a patient to also consult his/her regular general practitioner via the app. The more doctors use Doktr, the more likely it is that your regular GP will be active on the platform. It is therefore expressly intended to convince as many doctors as possible of the added value of the app.
In this respect, too, Doktr has recently entered into a partnership with Domus Medica, the largest scientific association of general practitioners in Flanders and Brussels, as well as with several Belgian municipalities that are suffering from a shortage of general practitioners in their areas. It is also in this spirit that Proximus today announces an alliance with CM/MC and Solidaris/SocMut.
By working with key actors in the Belgian healthcare system, the Doktr app aims to become the most user-friendly and safest tool for patients, while ensuring that doctors and care providers can plan their time as efficiently as possible. Based on this common vision, Proximus, CM/MC and Solidaris/SocMut are striving to roll out the Doktr app as widely as possible to patients and care providers in different domains in order to increase the accessibility of healthcare and support the evolution towards a more preventive and inclusive healthcare policy.
Our alliance with CM/MC and Solidaris/SocMut is an important step towards making Doktr the leading player in videoconsultations. By becoming a fully-fledged entity within the Proximus Group, Doktr will have the means to accelerate its development further and continue to focus on innovation.
Jan Van WijnendaeleManaging Director at DoktrThis alliance strengthens the local ecosystem around the Doktr application and underlines our willingness to work with all healthcare actors in the Belgian healthcare system, whether doctors and other healthcare providers, health insurance funds or authorities. At the beginning of this year, we also started a process with the eHealth platform, with the aim of writing a strong, innovative and locally anchored story that can convince the patient, while also supporting the specific Belgian healthcare model. For us, this alliance is the next step on the road to patient-focused hybrid care, with respect for the uniqueness of the Belgian healthcare system.
Luc Van GorpChair of CM/MCDuring the corona pandemic, we were all able to determine the added value of video consultations, for both patients and doctors. Although teleconsultations will never replace the actual physical contact, of course, they are an important addition to the classic range of services on offer. We want to establish this new healthcare model in a sustainable way. By joining forces with Doktr, we wish to provide a communication platform that makes healthcare even more accessible to patients and simplifies the work of doctors.
Jean-Pascal Labille and Paul CallewaertGeneral Secretaries of Solidaris/SocMutSolidaris/SocMut is delighted with the partnership concluded with Proximus around Doktr. As health insurance fund, we believe this project is promising with respect to the reimbursement framework for video consultations, on which we can provide strategic advice. In the long term, such a project is also likely to allow the development of other services, such as consultations with medical advisors and assistance abroad.
