MyHealth1st, an online healthcare search and appointment booking service, has announced it will launch in New Zealand, having successfully been established as Australia’s #1 Independent Optometry Directory for Online Appointments in Australia with over 60 per cent of all independent optometry practices signed up.
The platform enables consumers to search and make an appointment with an optometrist, GP, dentist, specialists or other allied health practitioner online.
According to Klaus Bartosch, Managing Director and co-founder of 1ST Group, which operates and owns MyHealth1st, the platform will provide independent optometrists with a cost effective and comprehensive digital marketing platform that will help them compete with corporate optometry. Appointments can be booked online at the MyHealth1st website, the practice’s own website, Facebook pages or other digital pages, including the MyHealth1st mobile apps.
Optometrists can access three primary MyHealth1st products, which are available on a monthly subscription or Pay as You Go basis: online appointment bookings, ‘EasyFeedback’ (special surveys post consultation) and automated recalls (EasyRecalls) segmented to patients by demographic and eye health status. All three seamlessly integrate with practice software like Optomate and Sunix. Additionally, patient education campaigns will increasingly be executed, which are sponsored by industry suppliers.
MyHealth1st plans to launch its consumer website and mobile app in March 2018
In Australia to date, 1st Group has taken over six million online bookings, and has over 1,200 independent optometry practices across the country registered with the service. A recent campaign, directly targeting patients who have booked an optometry appointment online or by phone, has educated patients about the benefits of contact lenses, encouraged them to ask about them at their appointment and advised the optometrist of the patient’s interest to find out more.
Mr. Bartosch said although the educational campaign has only been running a few weeks, it had already generated significant interest in contact lenses and increased sales to new as well as existing customers.
MyHealth1st plans to launch its consumer website MyHealth1st.co.nz and mobile app in New Zealand in March 2018. “Following the rapid success that we’ve had in Australia, we expect independent New Zealand practices will very quickly become subscribers,” said Mr. Bartosch. “In a market that is increasingly dominated by two major corporates, the MyHealth1st online platform presents a very cost effective way for independents to compete with these new digital platforms, attract new patients and bring existing patients back comm. We will be supporting the launch by cross promoting optometry to consumers who are already using the MyHealth1st platform to search and book appointments with GPs and other allied health practitioners.” Visit myhealth1st.com.au
