Medical records are always important to next Doctor, especially if you are travelling to another country hence businesswoman, Noleen Mariappen established MedInfoFile after witnessing a family member stressing about her medical records. The platform gives a patient-driven record-keeping platform that enables users to save their health records including symptoms, doctors, tests, diagnosis and prescriptions, and more, in one secure place. It also allows for the setting of reminders for vaccinations, prescriptions and appointments.
âAt the final stages of my motherâs life, while she was still well enough to travel, she wanted to travel to Switzerland which was one of the places she loved most but she didnât go because she was worried that in the event that she needed urgent care abroad, there would be no quick way of getting all her records to the healthcare professionals. It was from recognizing this pain point as being something that most people experience when they see a doctor and have to think of their medical history, and from wanting to be able to introduce a solution, that the company was foundedâ said Mariappen. Users can become members by subscribing onto MedInfoFile and creating profiles where they will upload their medical information.
According to   MedInfoFile the user is always in control of the information held and is able to share with trusted third parties. It allows for time to be saved on consultations and allows healthcare providers the opportunity to review all relevant health information and medical history with ease.
The latest unemployment data from Stats SA which revealed that female unemployment continues to rise highlights the need and opportunity for women to pursue entrepreneurship as a career. The stats reveal that female entrepreneurship is lagging in South Africa, with women making up only 18.8% of small and medium enterprise (SME) owners in the country. Although Mariappen is an experienced entrepreneur, she still faced the challenge of understanding the marketâs mindset.
âThe platform is patient-driven, the mindset of corporates and public institutions is that it should be left to the individual user to access the service. We feel that aside from the obvious benefit to patients, one of the greatest positive outcomes will be to institutions like healthcare service providersâ she said. She highlighted that the entrepreneurial journey is definitely not for everyone. âYou know that youâre an entrepreneur at heart when you face countless setbacks, have no absolute certainty of where things will go, but have endless hope she saidâ
Mariappen says that she would like to see the company become a household name in numerous countries, while simultaneously supporting health initiatives that benefit those in need of extra care and support. Moreover, she is currently in discussions for licensing the platform to other countries and also working on options to offer the service on an outreach basis, with support, allowing for those in rural areas and with limited access to technology to see the benefits too.
