Doctor Insta – The Unbiased Review

Everyday we hear news and stories about how medical sciences have reached another marvel. But have you ever wondered what does it mean for an average person? You may jump up and say YES!

And even I’ve heard people feel proud and say YES! I told you we will find a cure for this one day or YES! 3D printing will change the world of medical sciences forever. So again I ask the same question, what does it mean for you and me? The answer is – A lot in the near future or when available. But at the moment, when we have a burning temperature or when we are wounded we either become self doctor’s (google and take meds) or somehow drag ourselves to the nearest doctor. Right?

It has been the case since our grandparents and even till today we follow the same regime. Ok fine, our grandparents went to Hakim’s (a physician using traditional remedies in India) but still the process remains pretty much the same. Doctor’s or Hakim’s, it was always us heading to them unless you had a lot of money or a doctor who could visit you at home. The point is, all the achievements medical sciences have made, the process of taking appointments and visiting the doctor hasn’t changed.

Well that’s what I thought till a few days back when I met the young team of an app called Doctor Insta. As the name suggests Doctor Insta, is an app that teleports you to a doctor or the doctor to you on a click of a button. Ok not teleport right now but teleconference through audio or video as and when required.

Wondering

• why would you use it?
• how would you use it?
• it must be expensive
• this aint going to work in India
• No WiFi so no point for me

If you have all these questions in your head then you are not alone. I had the same questions when I met the founders of the app. In fact after meeting them, they convinced me to install the app and also gave me a free code to test it. A month later, I had this app sitting on my smartphone doing nothing. Why?

In India, we are own doctors! Headache = Disprin, Saridon; Fever = Crocin; High Fever = Crocin + Any Antibiotic and so on. And if things get worse then the chemist becomes our doctor. And if gets really bad even after a dose from the chemist, then we drag ourselves to the doctor. The doctor is always the last resort and that’s because things we only only visit them when we are out of options. No the doctor’s aren’t scary (Ok some are)! But the time, efforts and money it takes to consult a doctor just isn’t feasible for most of us.

In a real life scenario, a visit to a local doctor costs around INR 1000 at least. How? Time & Effort to commute to the doctor and back home = 1 hour (priceless) if the doctor is in the vicinity; Money spent on the fuel = INR 100; Consultation fees of the Doctor nowadays = INR 500-800; Buying the meds the doctors prescribed = INR 100-400. And this is when a doctor is right in your vicinity and caters you without an appointment. Things get ugly, if you have to consult a specialist in a distant land.

Hence, I was convinced to install Doctor Insta on the premise that I’d only have to pay INR 400(free for the first time) to consult a doctor from the comfort of my home or office at any point of time. But as I mentioned, even with so much in its favour, it was still rusting in my smartphone. So did I ever use it for review or before I reviewed it? The answer is a big NO.

Frankly, I could have fired the app very next day after installing it and tested it for a review by faking an illness and interacting with a doctor online. But then what about the core values of ‘The Unbiased Blog’? It was about a month and half later that I was in Malaysia and I fell unwell, handicap thanks to the language barrier and lack of knowledge about the local medicines. I called the hotel concierge and seeked assistance but in a new country it isn’t that simple to get to a doctor and then explain what has happened. I was flustered up and called my wife to consult a local doctor in India and explain my symptoms but it was 3AM in India. When you are unwell, first thing you lose is your power of rational thinking. After almost an hour, I realised that I’ve Doctor Insta in my smartphone and I can try it if it works.

So I launched the app and the first 2 times I clicked on ‘See a Medical Doctor Now’ and the then the ‘Let’s Go’ button, the app crashed. It was a setback but I know app behave weirdly sometimes so I tried it on the my other iPhone and it worked seamlessly. Just to clear the app is not limited to iPhone but I had installed it on both my iPhone 5s and 6s.

This is how the app interface is and the flow to reach the doc:

Doctor Insta – App Flow

So you must have noticed that it takes only a few minutes to reach the doc from anywhere in the world at anytime. Therefore, I could use in dire situation during my trip in Malaysia and save myself from ruining my trip.

Apart from this a user can also select a doctor that he specifically wants to visit.

Keep a track of his/her health or appointments.

The Unbiased Verdict

For any app or service to be successful in India, pricing is very important. Moreover a chance to try it for free and experience a new service really helps it adoption. We have seen Uber do wonders thanks to its pricing and free rides for people to experience the change. Similarly, Doctor Insta has very competitive pricing and is letting our readers try it for free. So all our readers can download the app from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store by clicking on the respective app store links.

A user can also access Doctor Insta through the web – http://webapp.doctorinsta.com/login.php Readers of The Unbiased Blog can use the code DR1000 for a free consultation on the Doctor Insta app.

With so many avenues to reach a doctor instantly at any time from any place makes Doctor Insta a revolutionary app in the field of medical sciences.

PS: I did not divulge the details of my illness or how the treatment over the call went as I do not wish to share my medical history or records publically. I hope our readers would respect my privacy stand 🙂