In addition to its diverse cuisine, rich cultural heritage, and stunning scenery, Thailand is one of the top travel destinations for healthcare. Thailand has a large number of top-notch hospitals that are prepared to offer any kind of diagnosis and treatment, along with exceptional hospitality, making it the leading nation in the medical tourism industry.
However in the era of AI, everything must be completed digitally and as soon as possible. Likewise, the Telehealth platform “Health Deliver” fulfilled its promise to provide patients with optimal digital and physical experiences at any time and from any location. Despite the fact that people may simply visit the hospital on their own, they are further challenging themselves by launching this business in Bangkok, where the majority of Telehealth platforms have yet to gain recognition among the local population.
We had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Dean Jones today, the CEO and Executive Director, who has been involved in the project from the start. In this interview, he discussed his vision for the platform, his objectives, and the difficulties he and his team had while first establishing the health-related industry in Thailand.
Bangkok Business Lawyer: Please share with us your background and work experiences before working for ‘Health Deliver’.
Mr. Jones Dean: “I had senior executive roles in the logistics sector at a supply chain company prior to joining the “Health Deliver” initiative. I worked for several years in Southeast Asia and Australia.”
Bangkok Business Lawyer: What is the reason for your decision to start this business in Bangkok, Thailand, and what are the key differences from other countries in Southeast Asia, given your experience working in various countries?
Mr.Dean Jones: “The main reasons are that our team is already based here and we have experience working in several Southeast Asian countries. We saw Thailand as the place to start an innovation in health care because the health care here is so good. If we can add a new innovation to the market that is very well defined, then you should be able to export this platform to other countries. With our business, we definitely have aspirations to export to other Southeast Asian countries. So, that is why we chose Thailand because of the skills. We can get our base up and running from there.
However, there are challenges in Thailand that we learned about when we started this business, especially on the legal and regulatory sides, that are not favorable for innovation businesses compared to other countries like Singapore and Malaysia. But the good side of what Thailand’s trying to do is offer a “SMART Visa” and other protocols that facilitate foreigners starting businesses here. But it would be great if there were support from the government for innovation companies to make Thailand more competitive with other countries.”
Bangkok Business Lawyer: How did you enter the health care industry?
Mr. Dean Jones: “I have a strong desire to see how the supply chain integrates with healthcare. It’s quite fascinating. In my previous job, I worked with doctors who described their challenges, and they found that the supply chain caused 9 out of 10 problems. The supply chain’s role is to ensure that everything is ready and available, and it affects every aspect of healthcare.
That’s why we identified a business gap and a growing need for personalized services in Thailand. We don’t believe in mass-market healthcare. In the future, people will want personalized healthcare, with options tailored to them. Technologies like AI have a significant role in the backend to help doctors make the right decisions, but on the frontend, people want to receive treatment as individuals. I don’t want to buy something online for my health without knowing if it’s the best for me. I’ve seen many healthcare businesses that disregard supply chain principles, which are crucial for good communication, a personalized experience, and backend innovations.”
Bangkok Business Lawyer: What are the most significant points of “Health Deliver”?
Mr.Dean Jones: “We are a hybrid clinic. If the doctor wants to see the patient in the clinic, they can, and then they can follow up with the patient via our Telehealth platform. So, they don’t have to make that choice, which opens up more convenience for customers and is different from regular hospitals or clinics. Most of the time, the follow-up sessions are mostly consultations unless physical checks are needed.”
Bangkok Business Lawyer: Could you tell us more about the “Crisis 24” service?
Mr.Dean Jones: “We have both Business 2 Business (B2B) services and Business 2 Customer (B2C) services
Our B2B in partnership with Crisis24
Mr. Dean Jones: “Our B2B partnership with Crisis24 has been a significant achievement. We secured the contract to provide paramedics and emergency services for the Gulf of Thailand Oil & Gas operations, thanks to the quality of services we deliver for home healthcare businesses. This quality was the primary reason they chose to partner with us.
Handling emergencies in remote environments is one of the most complex aspects of healthcare. Despite being a three-year-old business, we are successfully managing this because we prioritize quality over quantity.
Our goal is to establish a center of excellence for all heavy industries in the region. We believe Thailand has exceptional medical personnel and resources, and our customers have flourished. Many of these projects are based in Thailand, so we aim to develop them here and expand into other industries.”
Our B2C
Mr. Dean Jones: “We are incredibly proud of our B2C services. We’ve received excellent reviews, which is remarkable considering the challenges of navigating Bangkok’s traffic, weather, and other factors. When services are provided at home, supervision is easier; however, offering services in external environments requires extensive training to ensure a high level of customer experience ethics. When our staff visits homes, we must provide additional training. We’re thrilled to have our own clinic now, allowing us to serve customers in various ways while maintaining our commitment to a customer-centric experience.”
Bangkok Business Lawyer: What do you think the future of the health-care industry looks like?
Mr.Dean Jones: “I think it’s a split; I think AI definitely plays a huge part in making things more productive than before, but I don’t think in the near future you will see AI working without human oversight in diagnostics, but probably you will see 99% being done and reviewed by the human doctors.
Beside that, I think health care will become more and more personalized, yet customized because no one wants to talk to the marketplace they want to have a good conversation and feel comfortable.”
Bangkok Business Lawyer: Which aspects of this business are the most challenging, and how did you overcome them?
Mr.Dean Jones: “I think Thailand is fantastic, especially in some areas, like world-class health care services. So, you have to be specific about why you are existing in this industry, and we had to go through a lot of learning and challenges to find out why we exist.
The main challenge in this business is that you have to change the mindset that’s required. For example, in some countries, innovation is required because of the doctor shortage; they have a huge waiting list. So they need innovation to help them with this problem. The challenge in Thailand is convincing the population that there are other ways that healthcare can be consumed or utilized. Currently, we target foreigners with health insurance. So, the challenge is making sure that we continue to stay in our sweet spot and continue to evolve our relevance by adding value while the market grows.
We are continuing to get our message out there. We also want to make sure that we’ve always got the customer in mind.”
Bangkok Business Lawyer: What are your objectives for “health delivery”?
Mr.Dean Jones: “Our vision is to be the first truly leading hybrid healthcare company to come out of Thailand, in Southeast Asia. If you look at Thailand as a whole, you will see that it has these massive conglomerates. It exports many things and has been a leader in many things. However, Thailand, albeit a leader in hospital care, still does not lead Southeast Asia in hybrid-type health care. Our mission is to build out through gaining trust in Thailand, a substantial market, and then be one of the first to move to other countries to export this expertise.”
Bangkok Business Lawyer: And finally, what is your personal favorite saying that you always remember to stay motivated while working?
Mr.Dean Jones “The long way is sometimes the shorter way.” The explanation is that you can try to find a shorter path, but at the end of the day, most of the time, the shorter path is just going the long way.
And relentless patience and an ungiving drive to patience—that’s hard to balance. You can look at businesses; you must have relentless drive, but at the same time, you have to have patience, discipline, and drive. You need to have a lot of drive and a lot of patience. When one is out of balance, then you are out.”
Thank you Mr. Dean Jones and Health Deliver for Information and Location.
Interviewed by Chaivit Settaphakorn
Transcribed and edited by Siriporn Settaphakorn
