Onco.com: Empowering Cancer Patients
Onco.com is building an ecosystem that cancer patients can tap into any time during their treatment journey.
At multiple points in the treatment journey of cancer, right from diagnosis to remission, both caregivers and patients are identified to face a considerable information gap on how to proceed. Besides, there is a critical discovery problem of not knowing where to go or to connect to which specialist. Onco.com, a technology-enabled resource platform, is attacking this very issue.
The solution
Onco.com proposes to offer a neutral, impartial opinion to patients (or anyone with internet access) and give them the advantage of choosing the befitting doctor according to their location and affordability. Their primary mandate is to connect patients to the right consultant and providing them with accurate and unbiased advice on their treatment plan. The patients receive a premium determinant of getting a detailed & personalized report on their condition. Their online platform OCPAPTM, was recently recognized at the international ASCO conference and is the world’s first service to provide personalized cancer treatment guidance, which helps patients with the right information that they need to navigate their journey through cancer. OCPAP™ is stretching out to help millions of cancer patients who have limited access to qualified oncologists in US and India. Thus giving them a chance to understand their treatment options better.
Moreover, while many patients reside in tier 2 or tier 3 cities, about 80% of the oncologists live in just eight cities of the country. For which, the patients have to travel to metros or take help of other means of transport to be able to physically meet the consultants. Given this skew in access to specialists, Onco.com has stepped ahead by providing a service that can get the recently-diagnosed patients to get in touch with the consultant before their physical consultation. Following a prevailing opinion, they also offer priority bookings with the right doctors that make the process of availing the physical consultation hassle-free; thus making the existing process more patient-centric by empowering the patient with the correct information ahead of their treatment.
A Robust Ecosystem
Such offerings have provided for their success, thus allowing them to serve over 35,000 patients across 18 countries. With a network of more than 1,500 oncologists across India and the US, Onco has an additional internal medical team comprising of senior oncologists. Independently and collectively, their specialists strive to bring a treasure of expertise and field excellence, counting on many years of experience. “The doctors have received training from some of reputed medical centers including All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Tata Memorial Hospital, and Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology in India and Harvard Medical School affiliate Massachusetts General Hospital, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Hackensack Meridian Health in the US. This pool of information is bound together to carry out the advancements in the oncology field. They carry out the responsibility to offer personalized treatment advice to the patients, which is as per international scientific guidelines such as NCCN and ESMO, making the information furnished through Onco.com evidence-based,” says the CEO Rashie Jain, Co-founder and Dr. Amit K. Jotwani, Co-founder & Chief of Medical Affairs.
In the Pipeline
Extending their network of service providers, they plan to incorporate local, regional hospitals/labs so that the patients have more options while keeping the on-boarding/vetting process precise. Based on the long term plans, they aspire to serve patients in the developed countries in the US and Europe. In particular, the online opinion service has significance for patients globally, and it is reflecting a demand that is coming in from those regions.
“3 million cancer patients are getting treated in India alone and around 7 million cancer patients in out go-to market includes Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Pocketing the point and the fact that patient needs in cancer are similar (if not more acute) in other countries like the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia, in the short and medium-term, they aim to establish an active space in these regions,” concludes the duo.