Tanzanian Healthtech Startup Launches Appointment-booking Platform

The Medikea app, launched in October, allows users to search for physicians by name, specialty, location or approved insurance, and compare them according to availability, ranking and feedback. Then they can use the service to book an appointment.

The start-up charges doctors and clinics a monthly subscription fee to help clinics go digital, while booking is free for patients.

“We provide software as a service tool for doctors and hospitals to help them go online, add their availability and manage their appointments. They can also send automatic email and SMS appointment reminder notifications to patients, reducing no-shows and minimising staff time spent on the phone,” Dr Elvis Silayo, Medikea’s co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) told Disrupt Africa.

Silayo said he launched the company to reduce the inconvenience for individuals finding doctors in different specialities, and also found that due to cancellations and last minute rescheduling, doctors have considerable short-term availability.

He said, “In fact, 30 to 40 per cent of their appointment slots go to waste. We call this the “hidden supply of care”. Our technology makes this hidden appointment inventory available in real-time for last-minute bookers. This dramatically accelerates patients’ access to care and improves systemic inefficiencies.”

Medikea, which is currently bootstrapping without external funding, has seen a quick uptake of 45 per cent week-on-week growth in the number of bookings. It currently only operates in Dar es Salaam, but plans to extend to other major cities in Tanzania before spreading to other countries in Africa.

“Today, there are 3.5 billion appointments booked annually in Africa, this is a US$60 billion market opportunity and four times bigger than hotel booking in Africa. And while patients are now looking for healthcare services online, less than one per cent of doctors and clinics have any form of online booking,” Silayo said.