Medybiz.com -- Clean bill of health

Aarati Krishnan

IN AN age where Internet shopping malls are hawking everything, from custom-made CDs to used cars, it is not surprising to find a range of e-commerce sites selling pharmaceutical products.

After all, medicines are standardised products from established manufacturers, easily identified through brand names. So they can be conveniently purchased through the Net.

But Medybiz.com offers much more than the convenience of purchasing medicines through the Net. It promises to function as a comprehensive B2B and B2C site linking the various components of the pharmaceutical industry, patients, doctors and laymen simply interested in information on health.

Whether the site will emerge as a valuable resource for those in the medical profession is difficult to gauge now. But Medybiz has certainly put in considerable effort to ensure that the content meets all the conceivable healthcare needs of an ordinary consumer.

Services-healthcare at a click

The key selling point for Medybiz.com is the host of round-the-clock services it offers the layman at the click of a mouse. The range of services that Medybiz offers could be an invaluable aid to a person who is aged, incapacitated or ill and confined to his home. But most of the services on offer require registration. So users who think they may have to use the site in an emergency would do well to register in advance.

The services offered by Medybiz are divided into five modules: Medyshop allows you to order and purchase medicines over the Net. Apart from pharmaceutical products, the site also offers toiletries, cosmetics, baby-care products and ayurvedic products -- all sourced from approved chemists and distributors. The site allows you to browse a catalogue of products before you make your choice.

Medyappoint allows you to fix up an appointment for consultation with a panel of expert doctors. Medycall can get you emergency healthcare services at a local phone number, while Medylab offers diagnostic tests in the comfort of your home. The site promises to have qualified personnel from a reputed pathology lab visit you at home, collect samples and deliver the report to you, against payment. Medycab can also get you an ambulance or a cab on a phone call.

The site offers its services in five cities -- Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi and Mumbai; there are plans to expand this coverage to include other cities as well. As e-commerce sites go, this site offers convenient payment options. Shoppers can pay through credit card; but for those who do not want to divulge credit card details on the Net, there is the cash-on-delivery option.

Add-on services

The site also offers a few add-on services that may be quite useful. For instance, the NRI service, which allows NRIs to keep track of the health of their close relatives in India through the Net. This module allows the NRI to schedule and book a complete healthcare schedule for his relative. Medybiz promises to escort the relative to the periodic check-ups, and mail the results to the client.

High on information

The services offered by Medybiz.com are just a part of what is on offer on the site. The well-organised home page also features links to a host of other modules offering information on healthcare matters to those interested.

For instance, there is a section which explains the logic underlying alternative healthcare systems, such as Ayurveda and Homeopathy. The Home Remedies section offers simple remedies based on natural ingredients for common ailments such as indigestion and flu. For the health buffs, there are also separate modules devoted to nutrition, fitness and yoga. These offer tips on exercise, facts about ideal height and weight and the benefits of yoga.

There are specific modules devoted to women and children. The women's module offers information on such specific health issues as pregnancy, diet and gynaecological problems. The children's module offers information for kids, including issues concerning infancy and ideal diets for children.

One interesting concept that Medybiz has experimented with is that of helping users gain an insight into illnesses and medicines. A separate section is devoted to patients wanting to know the workings of specific drugs and how they attack specified illnesses. Users can scroll down a list of possibilities to choose the healthcare problem about which they would like to know more. Similarly, the site also offers to explain the contents, action and side effects of common prescription drugs. Both could be useful features for patients wanting to know how to cope better with their health problems.

Missing element

As start-ups go, Medybiz.com has fairly comprehensive content on the site. But there are a couple of missing elements. For one, the site needs to enlarge the list of drugs and diseases it covers under its ``understanding the illness'' and ``understanding your medicine'' sections.

A test search for some common drugs such as Crocin, Daonil and Digene, fetched no results; neither did a test search for diabetes. Second, the site needs to tone down the medical jargon. A user looking for information on indigestion may be disappointed if he uses this as his search phrase.

But relevant information is actually listed under `dyspepsia' on this site. While using the medical term may be convenient to users with a medical background or a passing familiarity with medicine, lay users may not be able to get much out of the site if the search results hinge on the use of the correct medical term.