Ping An Good Doctor, Grab joint venture to deliver healthcare solutions in SEA

By Digital News Asia August 17, 2018

Will utilise GrabPay to complete transactions
Service will launch in select countries in the first-quarter of next year

Ping An Good Doctor, Grab joint venture to deliver healthcare solutions in SEA

CHINA-based one-stop healthcare services platform, Ping An Healthcare and Technology Company Limited (Ping An Good Doctor) and Grab Holdings Inc, an O2O platform in Southeast Asia, announced on Aug 16 that both parties will establish a joint venture company to deliver transformative online healthcare services in Southeast Asia.

The joint venture, the first of its kind to operate regionally, will provide an array of integrated medical services such as artificial-intelligence (AI) assisted online medical consultations, medicine delivery and appointment bookings through an online platform.

The joint venture will work with governments, hospitals, doctors and other key stakeholders and seek partnerships to ensure local market needs are met.

The joint venture will utilise GrabPay, a Southeast Asian digital wallet, to complete transactions. The service will launch in select countries in the first-quarter of next year.

Ping An Good Doctor is the top online healthcare player in China. With more than 200 million users, Ping An Good Doctor delivers healthcare solutions through its online platform using AI technology that guides the online medical consultation process.

Together with Grab’s geographic footprint, local market knowledge and reach of over 100 million downloads, the joint venture will help address the burgeoning healthcare needs of Southeast Asia.

By 2030, Southeast Asia will become the world’s fourth largest economy with rapidly growing healthcare needs.

The region faces critical healthcare challenges, such as a lack of adequate medical infrastructure in some countries, a rural-urban divide when it comes to the accessibility of doctors and inefficiencies on the consumer end when needing to see the doctor.

For example, in Indonesia, there is only one physician for nearly 5,000 people, which is significantly lower than high-income countries with up to three or four physicians per 1,000 people.

Efficient and timely healthcare solutions delivered digitally have the potential to transform the industry and improve medical outcomes.

Anthony Tan (pic), group CEO and co-founder, Grab said “We are thrilled to partner with Ping An Good Doctor (PAGD) for Grab’s first venture into online healthcare. PAGD is an industry leader in online healthcare and has developed a proven business model around a complex challenge in China. Grab was founded on the principle of bringing accessible and affordable services to the masses in Southeast Asia, be it in transport, payments, food delivery or groceries.

“We believe everyone should have access to high-quality and affordable healthcare. Together with PAGD, we will deliver affordable healthcare through technology. This has the potential to make a huge impact in the lives of our families and communities we serve across SEA.”

Wang Tao, chairman and CEO of Ping An Good Doctor, said: “Ping An Good Doctor will become a globally influential internet healthcare ecosystem platform. We will replicate our successful model in the Chinese market to the overseas market and export our mature technologies and services, resolving medical issues worldwide.

“Grab is a trustworthy company and we are excited to work with Grab to tap the growth potential of Southeast Asia, providing outstanding one-stop medical health services to hundreds of millions of local users.”

Ping An Good Doctor is the latest partner to join GrabPlatform, launched in July 2018. GrabPlatform is a suite of technologies that enables partners to access components of Grab’s technology including transport, logistics, and payments.

Through GrabPlatform, Grab’s strategic partners can leverage on Grab’s user base, offline distribution network and technology solutions customised for Southeast Asia to more quickly and efficiently expand across the region.

By working with partners, Grab will be able to provide users more relevant and valuable services.