Pfizer collaborates with DoctorOnCall for digital therapeutics platform

• Focuses on three key areas: Smoking, Vaccination and Heart Health
• Provides health tips, articles, education videos and engagement tools

PFIZER has announced a collaboration with Malaysia-based telehealth provider DoctorOnCall to launch a digital therapeutics platform that focuses on three key therapeutic areas, namely smoking cessation, vaccination, and heart health.

The digital therapeutics platform is designed to empower Malaysians to take charge of their health, help improve disease management and quality of life while providing guidance and resources to facilitate better communication between patients and their healthcare providers.

The digital therapeutics platform spans across three “health centres” on DoctorOnCall’s website that houses resources for three therapeutic areas in Bahasa Malaysia and English. These areas focus on smoking cessation, vaccination and heart health.

The platform announcement comes at a time where the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted patient treatments. Last year, the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) confirmed that some patients who have suffered heart attacks and stroke have stayed away from hospitals recently because of Covid-19.

Digital health platforms like DoctorOnCall are able to bridge the gap, allowing patients to quickly check in with a doctor for guidance virtually.

“While COVID-19 was devastating in its impact and effect in so many areas of healthcare delivery, it also presented opportunities for us rethink and reset a new normal. The adoption of digital health and virtual care will play a bigger role in how healthcare is delivered going forward,” said Ms Luksanawan Thangpaibool, country manager, Pfizer Malaysia & Brunei. 

“Through this partnership with DoctorOnCall, we hope to provide patients and healthcare providers in Malaysia with resources to stay connected and make informed decisions, both during this pandemic and in the future.”

The three areas

The three health centres is meant to provide access to an array of health tips and articles, educational videos as well as engagement tools such as quizzes and games, such as a smoking savings calculator, hypertension risk factor quiz and vaccination games, amongst others.

These three areas aren’t picked at random. In Malaysia, 1017 per 100,000 populations’ deaths was reported due to smoking-related illnesses, making it a primary cause of death in Malaysia since the 1980s. In light of this, the smoking cessation health centre on DoctorOnCall’s website provides tips on how to quit smoking for good.

Through the platform, patients can also calculate how much money they can save if they quit smoking now and how quickly their lungs could blacken based on their smoking behaviour.

The second area, on vaccination, is to help members of the public understand more about vaccines and immunisations, as well as to dispel common misconceptions on this topic.

The vaccination health centre on DoctorOnCall’s website contains informational articles and videos as well as free doctor consult initiative. Patients can also learn how much they can save from the possibility of hospitalization and treatment costs, by getting vaccinated against pneumococcal disease.

Cardiovascular diseases has been the leading cause of death in Malaysian since the early 1980s. The NCVD-ACS (National Cardiovascular Disease Database – Acute Coronary Syndrome) registry of 2014-2015 showed that Malaysians suffer heart attacks at a younger age compared to those in developed countries.

In a bid to help Malaysians learn more about the heart anatomy, disorders and tips on managing heart health, the health centre on DoctorOnCall’s website allows patients to check their risk of hypertension with the Hypertension Risk Calculator. Patients can also find out their risk of stroke by taking a self-assessment quiz on the platform.

“In today’s digital age where health education is looking towards nurturing long lasting behavioural changes that will result in a better health environment, we have a responsibility to drive innovations that elevate health outcomes in our community,” said Chiak Tang, chief operating officer of DoctorOnCall.

“Taking in the shifts in the ever-changing digital space, we are hopeful that this collaboration with Pfizer will trigger a lot of interest in the information shared and eventually a more empowered public.”

For more information about the three health centres jointly launched by Pfizer and DoctorOnCall, visit here.