Doctor Global plans to make 'house calls' in Bali<\/p>\n
By Rob Goodfellow<\/p>\n
WOLLONGONG, Australia (JP): Dr. Simon Leslie and the island of
\nBali go back a long way. He and his wife Margaret went to Bali on
\ntheir honeymoon in 1980. Over the years the couple have twice
\ntaken their children -- Brendan 16, David 12, and Alexandra 8 --
\nto the island for holiday.<\/p>\n
Dr. Leslie set up in 1993 a self-contained emergency medical
\nclinic at one of Indonesia's most famous surf breaks and
\norganized a roster of doctors to care for injured surfers from
\naround the world. In the late 1990s, as the president of the
\nAustralian branch of the Surfers Medical Association, he
\norganized three international conferences in Bali and East Java's
\nG-land.<\/p>\n
The medical clinic Dr. Leslie founded proved its worth on Jan.
\n3, 1994, when a tidal wave hit the G-Land surf camp at 2 a.m.
\nResident doctors were able to provide immediate care to a large
\nnumber of tourists and residents.<\/p>\n
These days Dr. Leslie has a new surfing challenge. He is the
\nAustralian chief of operations for www.doctorglobal.com.<\/p>\n
Doctor Global is the first medical organization in the world
\nto provide direct doctor-patient medical consultations via an
\ninteractive web site. The doctor-owned and operated Internet
\nservice is organized by a group of experienced practitioners who
\nbelieve medicine on the Internet can greatly assist consultations
\nin person.<\/p>\n
The site now has 30 registered and Clinical Advisory Board-
\naccredited doctors based in Australia and New Zealand who provide
\nonline medical advice through 11 \"e-clinics\". Topics include
\ngeneral medicine, nutrition and sexual health, travel medicine,
\nadvice about allergies and the control of pain, cardiology and
\nmental health.<\/p>\n
Doctor Global is currently investigating finger sensors, which
\ncan read and then send a range of vital signs over the web,
\nincluding blood pressure, pulse rate, glucose and potassium
\nlevels. The organization also sees an opportunity for patients
\nwith home monitoring systems feeding directly into databases to
\nassist in early detection and appropriate management of diseases
\nand illnesses.<\/p>\n
Doctor Global connects consumers to doctors, as opposed to
\nmost medical web sites that connect people to nonspecific search
\nengines. It is best described as a \"Virtual Health Center\",
\nproviding direct patient access to health professionals. Anyone
\nusing the site enters his or her medical history, demographic
\ndetails and credit card data after completing a specific \"e-
\nclinic\" questionnaire.<\/p>\n
Currently, Doctor Global has over 1,400 registered patients
\nwith hundreds of new international enquiries, referrals and
\nconsultations each month.<\/p>\n
Consultants are appointed on the basis of recognized expertise
\n(the consultation fee is US$20 or AUS$25 or $NZ30). The
\nuniqueness of the site is that it provides a web-based medical
\nservice accessible from any Internet-linked computer in the
\nworld. With the increasing popularity of \"cyber cafes\",
\nregistration is poised to become an accepted travel accessory.<\/p>\n
Dr. Leslie was quick to point out, \"This is the way of the
\nfuture. The front-end of the website focuses on services to the
\nindividual. The back-end will feature personalized pre-
\nemployment, occupational and travel health services for
\ncorporations. We are excited about providing these services
\neverywhere -- especially in Bali.\"<\/p>\n
Dr. Leslie maintains the company's online consultations and
\nhis collegues' ability to efficiently refer to North American,
\nEuropean and Asia-Pacific medical facilities make it very
\nattractive to the corporate, executive and holiday travel
\ninsurance industry. For example, Dr. Leslie feels that most
\ninsurance-related \"Asian cases\" could be managed by Internet and
\n\"telemedicine\", possibly to the level of 90 percent of all
\noccasions of service. Insurance companies could then send their
\nteams to pick up those who needed to be evacuated, thereby
\neliminating unnecessary inconvenience or risk to the client and
\ncost to the travel insurance company.<\/p>\n
\"A relationship with Doctor Global will add a great deal of
\nvalue to travel industry products -- such as airline flights,
\nhotel accommodation and adventure tours,\" said Dr. Leslie. \"It is
\nall about giving people the confidence to relax and enjoy their
\nholiday without the stress of having to think about how to access
\nmedical care away from home.\"<\/p>\n
Bali currently attracts about eight percent of the world
\ntourist market, valued globally at US$112 billion a year. This
\nmakes Indonesia's most famous holiday destination an obvious
\nplace for Doctor Global to make \"cyber house calls\".<\/p>\n
Rob Goodfellow, based at the University of Wollongong in
\nAustralia, is a writer and Indonesian cultural consultant to
\nWestern businesses. He can be contacted at sujoko@ozemail.com.au<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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