By Wael Salem Vezeeta, one of many technological applications increasingly used here these days, is becoming an important tool for people in ill health to find a nearby medical specialist. Some people see it as useful. Others consider it risky. "There is a big argument over the Vezeeta app. A non-medical graduate can claim to be a doctor and a medical graduate can claim to be a specialist when he is not.'' Ayman Soleiman, a 28-year-old general practitioner at Benha hospital, said. People's health is involved. The Ministry of Health and the Physicians' Syndicate should be in strict control of the app. Otherwise, it could cause catastrophes, Soleiman told the Egyptian Mail. Mohamed Mukhtar, a 30-year-old engineer, tells of when his mother fell ill and sought Vezeeta's help. The application referred him to a cardiac specialist when he was looking for a kidney specialist. "I'm not in favour of this app. I don't like going to a doctor I don't know," Osama Fathi, a schoolteacher, said. "It's better to go to a doctor you know well. In an emergency, of course, you'll go to the nearest doctor to help you," he told this newspaper. A great many apps have appeared here in recent times. Some direct users to the nearest chef, or the best food. Others direct them to the nearest chauffeur and yet others help them find house maintenance professionals. Vezeeta, however, is the most outstanding due to the importance of the health services provided by the private sector. Moustafa Ali, an accountant, used this application and he has a good impression of it. "Going to a doctor can be very complicated. In addition to searching for a good doctor, you then have to call the clinic to book an appointment. Perhaps nobody answers the phone except after your third or fourth call. And then there is the waiting time in the clinic", Ali told the Mail. "Vezeeta has solved these problems and made booking with a doctor easy," he said. Abdullah Mokhtar, an employee in the electricity sector, agrees. Above all, there is an appraisal of the doctors registered with Vezeeta, Mokhtar told this newspaper. The patient can book automatically from the Vezeeta website by choosing the appropriate doctor and the suitable appointment available, he said. Vezeeta, the leading Information Technology platform for healthcare in the Middle East, was founded by Dr Amir Barsoum in 2012 to create a healthcare system which resolves the problems that face patients when they try to reach doctors. It was one of the most promising start-ups. "The healthcare market here requires critical development to provide a better service. Currently, patients do not receive an acceptable service although they must pay", the Vezeeta Chief Executive Officer, Dr Barsoum, told Rosa el-Youssef magazine. "Technology is now in every grocery, supermarket, lawyer's and accountant's office but not in the doctors' clinics and here comes the role of Vezeeta in integrating technology in healthcare," he said. "Vezeeta is the beginning of technological development in the healthcare services. It is a free service for the patients." The Vezeeta Company has a group of employees checking the papers of the doctors before enrolling them in the application. Furthermore, the company checks whether the doctors' certificates are valid or forged. It can also review their scientific degrees and the work licences necessary for working in the medical profession, Dr Barsoum said. The doctor should also provide a copy of the Physicians' Syndicate official card, to make sure that he is a member of the syndicate, Barsoum added. The head of the Innovation and Information Technology Centre at the Ministry of Communications, Moustafa Gabr, recently said in a press statement that the Vezeeta app does not have a licence from the ministry. He hoped that Vezeeta officials would seek to get the necessary licence as the app is helpful to many people and is a guide about the doctors and their specialisations.
