Consolidation of PH digital healthcare industry’s largest players to reach more Filipinos, uplift healthcare services KonsultaMD superapp to launch in Q1 2023

The consolidation of the Philippines’ three market-leading digital health apps will help address consumers’ pain points on a greater scale, poised to deliver even more digital solutions to address Filipinos’ health challenges through one superapp.

The KonsultaMD superapp, a consolidation of KonsultaMD, HealthNow and AIDE, will launch in the first quarter of 2023, packed with first-in-the-market features on end-to-end patient care that’s set to change the country’s healthcare landscape.

This follows the closing on August 18, 2022 of the agreement among Globe Capital Venture Holdings, Inc. (917Ventures), the corporate venture builder of the Globe Group, Ayala Healthcare Holdings Inc. (AC Health), the healthcare portfolio arm of the Ayala Group, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Vigos Ventures, Inc., and Salud Interactiva S.A. DE C.V. to consolidate Global Telehealth, Inc. (KonsultaMD), HealthNow, Inc. (HealthNow) and APPPPS Partners, Inc. (AIDE).

The consolidation will integrate the three applications into one superapp, bringing together KonsultaMD’s expertise in on-demand consultations, HealthNow’s strength in medicine delivery, storage of medical records, and implementation of vaccination and other health programs, and AIDE’s mastery of providing health services in the home.

Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu noted how the partnership further elevates the quality and scope of service across the three apps.

“The consolidation of KonsultaMD, HealthNow and AIDE is a step towards achieving our shared vision of providing healthcare for all. Through the superapp, Filipinos from across the country will be able to conveniently and immediately access quality healthcare and avail of related services such as diagnostics and medicine deliveries through their phones— an all-in-one digital solution to ensure a healthy nation,” said Cu.

The KonsultaMD superapp integrates complementary online and offline services for the ultimate healthcare journey.

It will offer on-demand and scheduled consultations, same-day medicine delivery, home-service diagnostics, doctor visits, concierge services, nursing care, fitness coaching, nutritional counseling, and more.

For instance, on-site laboratory testing required after a virtual consultation may already be booked through the app. Doctor’s prescriptions may also be fulfilled virtually through online orders.

As one superapp, the three brands will be able to expand their reach altogether, from its current over 2 million base and a network of over 1,000 healthcare providers across 45 specializations.

It will also enable further growth of KonsultaMD, HealthNow and AIDE as one, following the staggering rise in consultations at 2000% over the pandemic, the same level of increase in the number of healthcare providers, medicine delivery in the tens of thousands, and expansion of their private and public partnerships.

“AC Health’s end-to-end service delivery network coupled with the expanded digital reach of the new KonsultaMD puts us in a unique position to meld the online-offline experience for an omnichannel approach to health,” said AC Health President and CEO, Paolo Borromeo.

“The new KonsultaMD provides an alternative point of access to AC Health’s customer base of over 3 million unique patients and physician-network of over 1,600 doctors. We are very excited about the potential of HealthNow, AIDE, and KonsultaMD, combined with AC Health’s physical brick-and-mortar assets, and how together, we can better empower our medical professionals, improve the quality of service for our patients, and ultimately transform healthcare.”

By connecting AC Health’s ecosystem of healthcare providers, diagnostics and pharmacies, and Globe’s ecosystem of innovative digital solutions, the two subsidiaries of the Ayala Corporation are able to form synergy in the digital healthcare space under one KonsultaMD brand, giving it the unfair advantage to redefine the healthcare experience.

“Digital health has been the driving force to achieve health equity across populations,” said Pedro Yrigoyen, Principal and Co-Founder of Mexico’s Salud Interactiva. “As Mexico and the Philippines share similar health infrastructure and services, we have always believed this to be very beneficial for Filipinos, transforming their healthcare experience. We expect the Philippines to follow along the same path with KonsultaMD’s strong teleconsultation, HealthNow’s medicine delivery, and AIDE’s home care services with over 2 million users combined.”

KonsultaMD CEO Cholo Tagaysay, meanwhile, noted how the merging of the three apps also marks the coming together of two ecosystems— the Globe Group and AC Health– guided by a roadmap provided by Salud.

“With this announcement today, we hope to accelerate the adoption of telehealth even further. And move closer to providing healthcare for all Filipinos. KonsultaMD has always benefited from the Globe “Unfair Advantage”: Globe’s ability to take a startup idea and scale it across millions of subscribers immediately. KonsultaMD is in Globe At Home, Globe Postpaid, Globe Prepaid, and of course GCash,” he said.

“Now, compound that Globe Unfair Advantage with the AC Health Unfair Advantage. There’s the breadth and depth of the AC Health Ecosystem: Generika, IE Medica and MedEthix, Healthway, QualiMed, The Healthway Cancer Care Center. The new KonsultaMD can now leverage it all,” he added.

Now with more than 70 pharmacies nationwide and roving healthcare professionals covering the Greater Metro Manila area for home service, the new KonsultaMD continues to cater to the healthcare needs of individuals in different parts of the country.