Source: Diário do Comércio
21/08/2020

With the arrival of Covid-19 in Brazil at the end of February, several segments have turned to technological solutions to reinvent themselves and survive amid the challenges imposed by social distancing measures.

This has also been the case in the health area. With the federal government’s regulation of telemedicine for the duration of the pandemic, telecare tools and software have become highly demanded by clinics, doctors, and hospitals.

The new scenario has benefited companies that specialize in technology for the area. Minas Gerais-based startup iMedicine, for example, experienced 194% growth in sales in the first half of this year compared to the last half of 2019. The good performance is attributed, precisely, to the launching of the digital platform and the free availability of the electronic medical record for doctors all over Brazil.

According to ophthalmologist and iMedicina CEO Raphael Trotta, the software is a strong ally in the fight against the new coronavirus to avoid crowding in hospitals and emergency rooms and allow doctors and patients to stay safe at home with quality guidance and follow-up. According to him, currently, more than 11 thousand doctors from all over the country are already using the software.

“We have been in the market since 2016 and, long before what we live today, I was already working with consulting for clinics and hospitals in the gain of scale, attracting patients, management and care of clinics and hospitals. iMedicine then emerged as a complete support through a digital platform, in which doctors and other professionals can create and manage everything automatically,” he said.

About the online consultations, Trotta said that the technology was already being developed by the startup and, with the authorization by the competent bodies, such as the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM), they were able to launch it in 15 days. According to him, with the novelty, it was possible to help many doctors recover from the vertiginous drop that they observed when the pandemic arrived in Brazil.

“It is a delicate moment for everyone and for all companies. In the beginning, several clinics reduced the volume of patients, there was an abrupt drop in services, and some even closed down. But soon after came the Ministry of Health’s decree authorizing tele-consultation and we gained notoriety, precisely because we made the tool available at no cost to doctors and helped many of them get back to work”, he explained.

Differential – The doctor pointed out that the differential is in the process of delivering high added value at a low cost for the professionals in the area. According to him, the basic version of the tool has no cost and clinics can register up to 100 doctors.

In the first days of the launching of the telemedicine functionality, iMedicine conquered more than 5 thousand adhesions and, in only 30 days after the launching, the module reached 22 Brazilian states and the Federal District, with a growth in the volume of teleconsultations of about 30% per week since the beginning of April.

“Unlike many solutions, our main innovation is the very high efficiency in the infrastructure layer of the platform and in the internal software development and maintenance processes. This allows us to offer a complete platform, with online scheduling by the patient, medical agenda for day-to-day management, unlimited patient registrations, secure electronic medical records, digital prescriptions, and call center, at no cost to the physician,” he explained.

Demand is expected to remain high over the next few months. Thus, the company expects to end 2020 having doubled in size compared to the previous year.