TELEHEALTH AND ONLINE CONSULTATION PLATFORMS
Telehealth Platforms: Doctor Supply, Cost per Consult, Churn
It is eleven at night and a patient has paid for a consultation, but the on-call doctor has not logged in and support is sending apologies. The refund request arrives in the morning. The platform has users and doctors, but the owner has not worked out what a single completed consultation earns after payment fees, support, and doctor pay.
Our focus is the business: doctor roster and pay, cost and margin per consultation, support and refund routines, payment reconciliation and growth choices. We do not build or run software, advise on medical content, prescribing rules or telemedicine law. Your clinicians, your technology provider and the regulator are responsible for those.
Discuss your priorities ↗COMMON CHALLENGES
The pressures
we often see.
- 01Demand peaks in the evening and at weekends, while doctors prefer fixed shifts, so unfilled slots and patient waits sit side by side.
- 02Doctor pay is set per consult, per hour or as a share, and the owner rarely compares the effect of each on completion rate and quality of service.
- 03Refunds, missed calls and failed payments create a steady admin load, and support staff handle them case by case without a written rule.
- 04Gateway fees, GST on services, doctor payouts and commissions are reconciled late, so the monthly profit figure is a rough guess.
- 05Spending on getting users is tempting, but without knowing repeat consultation rates and cost per completed consult, growth may deepen losses.
OUR FOCUS AREAS
Where the work
usually starts.
- 01A daily roster of doctors by specialty and hour against consult demand, with unfilled and waiting counts.
- 02Doctor pay options and their effect on completed consults, ratings and cancellations.
- 03Cost per completed consultation: doctor payout, gateway fee, support time, technology cost and refunds.
- 04Refund and missed-consult policy, written so support can apply it without asking the owner.
- 05Payout and reconciliation calendar between payments received, fees deducted and doctors paid.
- 06Repeat consult and follow-up rate by specialty and the owner of each follow-up routine.
- 07Support roles across chat, calls and escalations, with a daily list of unresolved cases.
- 08Requirements written for any tool changes, so your provider builds what you actually need.
START THIS WEEK
Things you can do
before you call anyone.
- Take the last fifty consultations and mark each as completed, missed by doctor, missed by patient or refunded. The split tells you where the revenue leaks before anyone discusses growth.
- Write one page showing money in and money out for a single completed consult. Include payment fee, doctor payout, support and software share. If you cannot fill every line, ask your accountant for the missing ones.
- Hypothetical example: a consult priced at ₹400 pays the doctor ₹220, the gateway ₹10 and support ₹30. That leaves ₹140 before software and refunds. A 10 percent refund rate removes ₹40 of it.
A PRACTICAL ENGAGEMENT
Start with the priorities
that matter most.
We begin by understanding how your business runs today, find the gaps, and agree the scope in writing. Recommendations are shaped around your team, your resources and your goals.
- A doctor roster and demand matching sheet reviewed weekly.
- A unit economics workbook showing margin per consultation by specialty.
- A refund, escalation and support playbook with decision limits for each role.
- A requirements document for your technology provider covering the workflows you want changed.
Not the right fit when: A data breach, a prescribing complaint or a doubt about telemedicine rules needs your technology provider, a lawyer or the regulator. Fix that before looking at margins.
Explore a business audit ↗LET’S MOVE YOUR BUSINESS FORWARD
