CW+ Premium Content/CW Middle East

When Dubai-based Fodhil Benturquia fell ill for a short while in 2017, he saw first-hand how difficult it was to book a doctor in the emirate – so he decided to create his own venture to solve the problem of booking an appointment. To this end, he set up and became CEO of Okadoc.com, the UAE’s first online doctor booking portal. Launched in April 2018, the Okadoc app has a 24-hour medical calendar system that helps patients search and select doctors by specialty, location, language and insurance coverage. They can instantly book appointments based on availability. Benturquia said Okadoc can reduce health appointment “no shows” by 75%, by helping patients to remember doctors’ appointments and making it easier to reschedule or cancel. “Missed appointments are shown to lower efficiencies in the healthcare system, preventing patients from getting timely access to care and wasting valuable clinical resources including physicians’ time,” he said. Less than a year since the tech veteran launched the platform, Okadoc is averaging around...