The service provides access to medical advice and emergency medical response (EMR) anytime, anywhere. Callers have a choice of languages and the option to speak with male or female doctors who speak their native language to provide better services. TeleDoctor also runs special campaigns on key health-related days such as World Diabetes Day, AIDS/HIV day, No Tobacco Day etc. To increase health awareness and provide useful knowledge about common diseases, TeleDoctor also sends pre recorded voice messages and text messages to Telenor subscribers..
The TeleDoctor service is available to users at a minimal rate of Rs. 3 per minute. This renders it possible for underprivileged people to access qualified doctors at an extremely affordable price. TeleDoctor operates through the Telenor mobile service provider, which covers 95% of the rural underserved and underprivileged areas of Pakistan which lack basic health facilities compared to the urban population.
To maintain the quality of calls, TeleDoctor has a Quality Assurance team consisting of senior medical professionals. The Quality Assurance team randomly selects and listens to conversations between the team of doctors and patients. TeleDoctor agents send prescriptions through SMS messaging which has removed medical errors and is thus improving quality.
The project aims to achieve the following:
Immediate medical advice: Patients can talk with qualified doctors at any time and can therefore share their feelings and response of medicines.
Efficiency: Patients no longer need to visit doctor regularly for small issues, and can save themselves from the hassle of going to a clinic or hospital and waiting in long lines to see a doctor.
Confidentiality: Patients, especially women, can now call and speak with a trained doctor for their intimate and personal issues like puberty in young girls, psychiatric issues in family, etc.
