When going to another country, it is very likely you do not speak the native tongue. This means that when you’re in need of medical assistance abroad, communicating with a doctor might pose some difficulties and speaking slower and louder doesn’t actually help, despite what many English tourists may believe. It’s amazing how we can order a pizza or a taxi or a hotel easily online, but it’s so hard to find a doctor when we are travelling; even when there’s over 200 million international travellers who need medical assistance each year.

The need of finding a doctor that can speak your language is where Air Doctor spawned. A survey by the company show that those who got ill or injured preferred to wait it out rather than see a doctor, due to a lack of trust in the local health services. Air Doctor connects travellers to local private doctors when they fall ill abroad, preventing unnecessary, often frustrating, and potentially expensive hospital visits, and reducing pressure on emergency care.

Re-thinking the insurance business concept
Air Doctor created a solution for the whole travel ecosystem to benefit, from the traveller to the insurer: it improves the experience for travellers, and at the same time provides local doctors with a new revenue stream and reduces reimbursement costs for the insurers.

Insurers benefit as Air Doctor provides them with a global outpatient medical network through which their customers can access the most appropriate care while travelling abroad seamlessly and at no cost to them. This means that, as an insurer, you have the ability to assist customers in need and gain loyalty with the help of the Air Doctor app.

The Air Doctor app currently has a global network of more than 18,000 comprehensively-vetted practitioners that spans 61 countries and includes GPs, paediatricians, dentists, ophthalmologists, dermatologists, gynaecologists, and orthopaedic specialists as standard – to set up an online or in-person consultation.

How it works

Within the Air Doctor app, travellers can search for suitable local doctors across 61 countries in 5 continents, with the ability to filter on languages, medical specialism, proximity, appointment availability and other relevant factors. The app provides recommendations from within Air Doctor’s network of doctors.

The traveller can schedule an appointment (online or in-person consultation) with one of the thousands of trusted and licensed medical professionals in countries across Europe, Asia, Australia and America.

The insurance company can offer a cash free process for their customers or to ask them to pay and submit a claim through our app. If the insurance company prefers that the customer pay and then get reimbursed it is an option as well. The partnered insurer receives fortnightly reports from Air Doctor, detailing consultations carried out, as well as an invoice for the relevant charges. Air Doctor pays the doctors, taking a commission on each consultation fee, and is subsequently reimbursed by the insurer or other partner.

Why we think you should keep an eye on Air Doctor
Insurance groups partner with Air Doctor to deliver a new standard of service to their customers. Tapping into Air Doctor’s network of healthcare providers and their suite of services, insurers are reducing costs and attracting new policy holders. By improving the customer journey, organizations show that they are proactive and open to servicing today’s tech-savvy travellers with a secure, customizable application.

Benefits of Air Doctor further are:

• Very low integration cost, within 2 months
• Tailored to your needs and integrated with your current systems
• Option for cash free process
• Shift from high cost hospitals to low cost community care
• Complementary to current assistance solutions
• Accessible from any mobile device, iOS, Android, iPad, tablets and laptops

Who is Air Doctor?
Founded in 2016, Air Doctor (Israel) aims to empower travelers who get sick when abroad and need non-emergency advice or treatment. The founding team includes Jenny Cohen Derfler (CEO), previously general manager of Intel’s Israeli manufacturing facility, Efrat Sagi-Ofir (COO), recently a finalist in Quesnay’s Female Founders in Insurtech competition, Yam Derfler (CTO) and Yegor Kurbachev (Business Development).

The company has raised $10.9 million in venture funding to date, through a $3.1 million seed round in 2018 and a $7.8 million Series A round in 2020. Investors include the AXA-backed venture builder Kamet Ventures and The Phoenix. Air Doctor also partners with hotel groups such as Fattal, Ritz Carlton Herzliya, and Selina Motels Mexico.

Interested to find out more about Air Doctor? Click here to go to their website!