ValueMomentum, a provider of software and services to insurance, healthcare and financial services firms, has incubated a social-media platform exclusively for doctors in India.

The mobile, cloud-based digital platform, WhiteCoats, has attracted over one lakh medical practitioners from 1,000 locations. It provides a platform for doctors to share and discuss issues related to medicine and their practice.

The firm has made an initial investment of about $500,000 and committed an annual investment of about $1million. It targets to rope in three lakh doctors in the next two years.

“It is free for doctors; it will remain free for them. We will device ways to monetise the platform at a later point,” Ravi S Rao, President (Asia-Pacific), ValueMomentum, told BusinessLine .

According to Jayesh Chauhan, Chief Development Officer of the US-based firm, which has a large presence in India, there are about 18.70 lakh doctors in India, including 10 lakh in the allopathic stream. Currently, there is a shortfall of 15.4 lakh doctors in the country.

“This shows there is huge scope for a digital platform that can connect doctors with a variety of specialities and bring them together. The platform also allows to build groups based on interests and specialities,” he said.

Quoting surveys, he said over six lakh doctors in the country are on Facebook and one lakh on LinkedIn. And over 90 per cent of them are on WhatsApp. “What is shared on generic social-media platforms is not exclusive, and patient information may be exposed,” he said.

While the basic version of WhiteCoats is free, there is an advanced version which is offered on subscription. Services such as patient management and hiring options are available in the advanced version.

The firm says it could rope in a few IMA (Indian Medication Association) chapters and other associations in the medical fraternity.

“We share curated information collected from various journals and publications. The platform will let doctors share difficult procedures and discuss them. This is not possible on generic social-media platforms,” Jayesh said.

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