Airtel launches Mediphone for North subscribers

In order to provide timely medical advice to people living in rural, semi urban and even urban areas in Northern region, Bharti Airtel has joined hands with Healthfore (a division of Religare Technologies Ltd), with Fortis Hospitals as knowledge partner -- to launch Mediphone.

The unique 24X7 health service, would allow Airtel mobile customers to avail of quality health advice through their mobile phones -- anytime and anywhere.

The service is likely to help over 12 million airtel subscribers in the Northern region comprising Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Further, the partnership between Bharti Airtel and Healthfore for the launch of Mediphone represents an amalgamation that will combine the strengths of both companies in their respective industries -– to deliver a credible, comprehensive and reliable mobile health service for over 170 million Airtel customers across India.

With a low doctor-patient ratio in India, this unique mobile phone based service -– Mediphone, will be a boon for Airtel mobile customers, that will provide them an easy access to qualified doctors and accredited nurses. Customers just need to dial 5-44-45 to avail of the facility. This service has been in pilot phase for the past three months in some of the circles and has been received well by Airtel mobile users with a very high customer satisfaction rating.

Also, in order to ensure that Mediphone delivers accurate medical diagnosis, Healthfore has appointed accredited doctors and well qualified nurses to attend customer calls and recommend solutions. Additionally, all medical consultants will be supported by a world-class technology solution -- Medibank Health Solutions, to help examine customers’ medical cases in the most effective manner.

Commenting on the launch, Shishir Kumar, CEO – upper North, Bharti Airtel Limited said, "The ubiquitous mobile network on Wednesday presents a huge opportunity for the telecom industry to leverage its reach to extend life enriching solutions to customers across India. As industry leaders, this joint initiative is reiteration of our commitment to bringing in innovative services in partnership with industry leaders like Healthfore. We hope Mediphone will bring 24X7 availability of medical advisory within closer reach of more Airtel customers."

Commenting on the initiative, Mr. Nitin Goyal, senior vice president, Healthfore said "Although India’s healthcare sector has entered into a high growth trajectory, it still has to go a long way to penetrate into the remotest of locations in urban as well as rural India. Through Mediphone, we hope to help people meet their health related demands by reaching out to a large segment of the society."