Disclaimer: This article was published last August 26, 2018 Link:
https://www.manilatimes.net/medical-care-on-demand/434736/

Aide is the first mobile application in the country that provides medical care to homes, offices and hotels

Back in 2016, Aide CEO and co-founder Paolo Bugayong was looking for a nurse for his grandmother. “It started with our own need. Our Grandma needed a nurse but we did not know where to find one. There was no easy way to get one aside from OLX or Facebook. However, we were not sure if they were actually real medical professionals,” he recalled.

The Economics graduate from the Ateneo De Manila University specializes in corporate finance, mergers and acquisition, and management. But because of his personal need, he came up with the idea of creating a mobile application dedicated to medical care.

“It was the time when Uber was a big hit in the Philippines. And after discussing it with my siblings over Sunday lunch with the family, we realized that having an application like this would help connect patients with medical professionals,” he shared. By February of last year, Paolo and siblings, Pamela, Patrick and Patricia launched Aide for iOS and Android smartphones.

Trust and Convenience

Paolo stressed that medical professionals who become part of Aide go through intensive screening. “All medical professionals are vetted and intensely screened to assure our patients that the services we offer are safe. We also partnered with reliable companies who also share our vision,” he added.

The main objective of Aide is to provide convenience to those who do not have the luxury of time to visit a clinic, a hospital and with the recent addition of animal care, a veterinarian. Paolo shared that it only takes three simple steps to book a medical partner. “The app is user-friendly. First, patients just need to choose what service they need (blood works, acupuncture, physical therapy, etc.). Second, they have to set their appointment by providing details such as location, time, and date. Lastly, book the best medical partner based on their needs. We match users with physicians, nurses, caregivers, physical therapists, and the like. We can also deliver medical supply and medicine to our patients,” he pointed out.

Warm Reception

Since its launch in February 2017, the mobile app has been gaining a lot of attention. In fact, its users have grown to more than 22,000 already. “We have been growing at the rate of 4 percent a week; 20 percent have used the app at least once, while 30 to 50 percent are repeat customers from our monthly bookings,” Paolo shared.

As Aide’s following continues to increase, Paolo intends to offer new services and expand to other areas, “Right now, we just want to focus on the user experience so will continue to improve the add while providing more services. Hopefully in the future, we can reach out to other places outside of Metro Manila that need solutions for better access to health care,” he concluded.