[Startup24+] Non-face-to-face Medical Consultation and Medicine Delivery All in One App

Comprehensive Medical Information Platform 'Goodoc'
Rises as a National App through Continuous Evolution
Surpasses 8 Million Cumulative Downloads

Im Jin-seok: "Founded to Solve Information Asymmetry Due to Lack of Doctor Information"

Im Jin-seok, CEO of GoodDoc (39, Photo by Im Jin-seok)

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] There is an application (app) that COVID-19 patients who need home treatment are installing first these days. It is ‘Goodoc,’ which provides the entire process of non-face-to-face medical consultation, prescription drug costs, and medicine delivery free of charge. As the Omicron spread prolonged, Goodoc launched its ‘non-face-to-face medical consultation’ service on the 7th of last month, and about 10,000 people have used it so far. The service is available even on weekends, greatly helping patients who feel anxious due to medical service gaps.

Goodoc is a startup established in 2012. It started as a doctor search service and has grown into a platform that provides integrated medical information. With 8 million cumulative downloads, it is the number one mobile healthcare platform in Korea by user count. Jinseok Lim, CEO of Goodoc (39), said, "My mother suffered from arthritis, and it was not easy to find a hospital that could provide proper treatment." He added, "There is a strong consumer demand to know good hospitals, but there is an information asymmetry problem due to a lack of information about doctors, which led me to start this company."

Goodoc expanded its services further as the COVID-19 era began. A representative example is the ‘Mask Scanner’ introduced in March 2020. It is a service that provides real-time information on pharmacy locations and mask stock status. Goodoc played the role of a ‘national app’ during the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak with this service.

At the end of last month, Goodoc became the first in the industry to introduce a service that provides information on the costs of rapid antigen tests at hospitals and clinics. It added a cost information function to the existing rapid antigen test hospital and clinic search service. Rapid antigen tests are covered by health insurance if COVID-19 symptoms are suspected, costing 5,000 KRW at local clinics and 6,500 KRW at hospitals. However, asymptomatic individuals must pay an additional test fee of 5,000 KRW on top of the consultation fee. Since the test fee is a non-reimbursable item, it varies widely from 30,000 to 100,000 KRW depending on the hospital. CEO Lim said, "We conducted a full survey of hospitals and clinics to enable users to receive rapid antigen tests at the lowest possible cost."

Goodoc has expanded its business and increased its performance since being spun off from Carelabs, a KOSDAQ-listed company, in 2020. Sales increased from 9 billion KRW in 2020 to about 12.5 billion KRW based on preliminary settlement last year. The number of affiliated hospitals using Goodoc’s core service, the ‘non-face-to-face medical reception tablet,’ surpassed 4,000 this year, with an average of 1 million users per month. Riding this growth, Goodoc recently secured a Series A investment of 20 billion KRW. CEO Lim said, "The investment is almost finalized, and we plan to disclose related details soon," adding, "We will use the investment to expand tablet infrastructure, develop technology, and hire developers."

Goodoc plans to strengthen Personal Health Record (PHR) and Electronic Medical Record (EMR) services to build a preventive medicine system. As part of this, it plans to demolish and rebuild its office building in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, this summer and establish an ‘in-house hospital’ in the new building. CEO Lim said, "Through the in-house hospital, we want to realize the future hospital operated based on digital data," emphasizing, "If patients’ healthcare data and medical practices communicate interactively, disease prediction and health management levels will improve." He added, "Once the in-house hospital is successfully established and know-how is accumulated, Goodoc’s services will also be further advanced," and concluded, "Just as over-the-counter medicine comes to mind when you are sick, I hope Goodoc will be the go-to standby app when people feel ill."