Beelining outside a private clinic of a doctor in any part of Kashmir for seeking an appointment is a taxing task. Having realized this inconvenience people face while getting an appointment with a doctor, two city-based teenagers, Maroof Khan of Magarmal Bagh and Usman Tareen of Batamaloo have developed a website www.legaldrugfinder.asia which helps a user to book a doctor online.
There is a spring in the stride of these students of standard 11, who are showcasing their skills to help common people.
“This is Kashmir’s first website to book an appointment with a doctor online and also offers a search feature which provides medicine related information. There has been an immense support from my father who runs a pharmaceutical business. His business along with internet helped us clubbing information on medicines, their side effects etc,” says Usman.
While it has taken the duo of Usman and Maroof a month to design the website, they have been brushing up with IT related knowledge for a long time. Such is the panache of these teenagers, that they have already listed almost 100 doctors on their website and in addition uploaded consolidated information of more than 600 different medicines.
“We have added some of the private hospitals and nursing homes to our kitty and are in process of adding more doctors,” says Maroof.
A user can simply log onto the website and sign in for booking a doctor. The site which is a mobile customized site is quite user friendly and has added doctors from various specializations such as gynecology, ENT, Child specialists, Orthopedics, gastroenterologists, etc.
“Within a half an hour of booking a doctor, a user will get a confirmation e-mail regarding the appointment. They can make the prescription fee payment later at the doctor’s clinic on the day of their visit,” says Maroof.
According to the duo they are in a process of adding more doctors to their website and are in talks with more private hospitals. “This is a venture through which we are just gaining experience and gradually we would like it to become a commercial success. Initially we are offering this service free of cost to doctors but later we will involve some kind of charges from them,” says Usman.
Among plans in the pipeline also includes offering users of the website a chance to chat online with the doctor before physically visiting the clinic. As far revenue generation goes, the duo is featuring advertisements of global e-commerce giant Amazon on their site and sale of any products for Amazon will help them get a 10 percent commission, says Usman. Developing websites has been a passion for both Usman and Maroof for whom the window to IT was opened during their schooling days. Going forward, the duo has done various IT related short-term courses.
“After becoming acquainted with basics of Java, HTML, web developing etc we are now in a process of acquiring their advanced knowledge,” says Maroof. These youngsters draw their inspiration from leading payment and commerce company Paytm.
“Look where the likes of Mark Zuckerberg and Paytm started and where they have reached. If we can do proper marketing of our website, I am sure it will do wonders for people in Kashmir and help us become entrepreneurs in the long run,” says Usman. Maroof who is also doing a certificate course instituted by Union Ministry of Information Technology says his parents are keen to see him become a successful web entrepreneur. The level of seriousness and sincerity among Usman and Maroof is such that the duo wants people to donate towards needy.
“We would be adding a donate button to the website that will provide the users an option of contributing towards a social organization. We are planning to reach out to an organization that works for the cause of cancer and hope they get associated with us,” says Usman. According to the duo users can also make online contributions for the website which will help them in improving services. Among other features that the duo at Legal Drug Finder are planning to add includes providing online pathological services.
“We are also in talks with a leading pathological lab and if things go as planned we will offer a service where getting a medical examination will be just a click away,” says Usman.
REFERENCE:
Mar 20 2017.2 teen boys’ web app helps book doc online.Greater Kashmir. retrieved from
http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/opinion/story/244149.html
