Telemedicine consultations are available across the world, often as an out-of-pocket payment, yet enabling good access to care. In Vietnam, former Peace Corps Volunteer Beth-Ann Lopez build a company to increase access to clinicians and at-home diagnostics.

Beth Ann Lopez lived in Southeast Asia for close to a decade before starting her company. “It was about seven or eight years before I started Docosan. I just saw patterns. I saw patterns that had a lot to do with fragmentation and poor healthcare experience, no matter whether you were, a rice farmer living in a rural area in Thailand, or a wealthy Vietnamese living in Ho Chi Minh city. Healthcare is difficult to access. There's not a lot of good, transparent, trustworthy information online. People are still using word of mouth to determine where you can go and where you can trust. There are a lot of problems in variations in the quality of care. In Vietnam especially, there are some hospitals and clinics that are of fantastic quality, and there are some that are not so great.”

Making Access to Healthcare Easy

Generally speaking, people in Vietnam rely on word of mouth to determine where to seek care. However, due to great connectivity even in rural areas, and the young population, people use smartphones, which prompted Lopez to think about a digital solution to address the gap between patients and quality clinicians.

With Docosan, patients can also order at-home test kits for a range of lab tests, ranging from hormone health to sexual health to general blood testing at home. They receive results from a certified laboratory in the online platform and can start a consultation if needed.

Docosan aims to:

• make healthcare accessible and easy to find in Vietnam.

• The platform offers telemedicine consultations, online prescriptions, and home diagnostics.

• The platform also allows patients to review and rate doctors and clinics.

• Docosan is selective with the doctors and clinics they allow on their platform and provides training to new doctors.

Platform approach as the missing link in care

Docosan is a third-party marketplace that connects medical providers to patients in Vietnam. While they don’t employ doctors, only enable them to connect to patients, the company does have certain data about consultations that are informative for public health purposes. For example, based on the specialty people are searching for, or tests they are ordering, the company can detect trends, such as COVID outbreaks.

While Docosan is not a part of the public market, it has collaborated with the Vietnam HIV AIDS Authority under the Ministry of Health. The company aims to give people choices, options, and transparency regarding their healthcare needs. They vet all doctors and clinics on their platform for compliance and support clinicians who want to build their reputation online.

Affordability of Healthcare in Vietnam

The core users are millennials. In Vietnam, 70% of the population is aged between 15-64 years old. The company aims to expand its services beyond middle-class populations by targeting second-tier cities and increasing the number of choices available to customers. Prices of consultations are affordable for the middle class. “A very small proportion of people have private health insurance. The vast majority of private health transactions are out of pocket. This creates interesting incentives in the private sector. A lot of people are surprised to find that when you're using Docosan, you can search for prices of different types of consultations and services across providers. Providers are willing to offer their prices because they know that most patients are price sensitive because they’re paying out of their own pockets. That drives prices down a little bit. You don't have insurers as the major payers negotiating rates behind closed doors which would drive prices up for uninsured people,” says Beth Ann Lopez.

Starting a business in Vietnam

Because Vietnam has a highly educated talent base, particularly in software engineering, growing a company here is a good opportunity. Additionally, Vietnamese trust foreign brands more than local brands, which works favorably for those entering the market deom abroad. The biggest challenge for Docosan is growing sustainably while developing additional types of products with strong unit economics. As in every foreign market, the key step to building a business is finding good partners who can guide founders through compliance laws and local needs. Investors are helpful, but customer focus should be prioritized over their guidance, says Beth Ann Lopez.

Tune in to the full episode.

Show notes:

Vietnam's Healthcare System

Timestamp: 02:02 - 8:33

Beth Ann Lopez, talks about the state of healthcare in Vietnam and the challenges they face. She also explains how she identified the need for a healthcare marketplace that helps people find doctors easily.

Docosan's Services

Timestamp: 08:33 -14: 03

Beth Ann Lopez talks about Docosan's services, which include a doctor booking platform, teleconsultations, and delivery of medications. She also discusses the data they gather and how public health officials can benefit from it.

Docosan's Clinicians

Timestamp: 11:42 - 21:12

Beth Ann Lopez explains how Docosan vets and recruits clinicians to join their platform. She also talks about their reviews system and how they handle disputes.

Future Plans for Docosan

Timestamp: 27:47 - 29:53

Beth Ann Lopez talks about her vision for Doc0san and how she wants it to be a new paradigm for healthcare in the region.

Challenges in Starting a Business in Vietnam

Timestamp: 38:08 - 42:18

Beth Ann Lopez talks about her challenges when starting Docosan in Vietnam, including navigating the local needs and finding the right people to work with.