The Business APAC Healthcare Elites of 2019​ Final File_Healthcare Elites | Page 26

HEALTHCARE ELITES
Health at Hand:
Finally a technology-enabled solution
that benefits both the payer and the
patient in the MENA region
Charlie Barlow
Founder & CEO
O
conferences, frequently test competitors’ products,
conduct bi-annual trips to Silicon Valley where telehealth
has transformed primary healthcare, and are valued
‘thought-leaders’ for both regional health regulators and
governments. The efforts of Health at Hand have been
awarded numerous times; their CEO Charlie Barlow is a
Google scholar and mentor, recently winning a place on
the highly competitive Blackbox accelerator in Silicon
Valley, the company won the Innovation of the Year
award at the 2018 Middle East Insurance Industry
Awards, and most recently were awarded a place on the
United Nations sponsored C3 Impact Accelerator,
endorsing the claim that they offer the most ethical
telehealth solution in the Middle East and Africa.
ver the last twenty years, technology has
changed immensely and is positively impacting
the healthcare industry in terms of driving
operational efficiencies and clinical outcomes. The
Middle East has historically been slow to adopt such
technologies, but in primary healthcare at least, it looks
like this is changing. Telehealth, the delivery of
healthcare remotely through technology, is at an
inflexion point when it comes to primary healthcare.
Payers are haemorrhaging cash, consumers are
demanding more, governments are predicting doctor
shortages and telehealth provides the perfect solution for
all.
Health at Hand is one such company which has realized
the importance of advanced technologies for the
betterment of the healthcare industry. The Dubai-based
company were the first DHA licensed telehealth
company, and importantly are the only independent one
– with a huge focus on ‘Ethical Health’ where, uniquely
for the region, their doctors are not incentivised to over-
medicate, they recommend generic rather than branded
drugs where it is safe to do so, and have a quite brilliant
app which combines live doctor video consultations,
integrated doctor notes and even drug delivery. In order
to retain their sustainable competitive advantage, the
team of Health at Hand attend and speak at regional
March 2019
Cost-efficient, Trustworthy, and High-Quality
Healthcare Services For All
Health at Hand have cleverly combined a market-leading
technology enabled solution for the payers (with a
technology stack comparable to some of the unicorn
telehealth companies in the US), with an app based
product that finally seeks to democratize healthcare for
the consumer. With data privacy standards and medical
record security that goes over and above what is required
in the MENA region, Health at Hand have had their
business validated by signing a game-changing regional
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