Thanks to the Covid-19 health crisis, Doctolib has entered the lives of the French even more. The figures announced this Monday morning by its co-founder Stanislas Niox-Chateau show that the start-up born in 2013 – since then become a unicorn, that is to say valued at more than a billion dollars (883 million d ‘euros) – is now a key player in health in France.
On the front lines of the fight once morest the new coronavirus, Doctolib is the tool for making appointments for 1,500 vaccination centers throughout the territory. In 2021, 81 million appointments were made via its platform. “A service for which we do not earn money, with the exception of a hundred euros per month and per center,” recalled the manager.
Regarding the preponderant place occupied today by his company in the anti-Covid system, Stanislas Niox-Chateau described the vaccination campaign as “French success” and “success of a public-private partnership”. “We are well ahead of our European neighbors, we should be happy regarding this in a country where we tend to self-flag. This results from the involvement of caregivers, logistics, despite the delays at the beginning (of the health crisis) and simple and free appointment booking via the Internet. “
One in five patients is over 55 years old
60 million European patients now use its online appointment booking services. France remains its main market with 50 million users, far ahead of Germany (9 million), where Doctolib has been present for three years. Italy brings up the rear, but the group has only been present since last summer. Note that Great Britain or Spain, which have invested heavily upstream in the digitization of their health system, unlike France, are not priority markets for the tricolor nugget.
In detail, one in five French patients is over 55 years old and 88% of them live outside the 20 largest cities in France. “It is one of the services most used by seniors and it is important to point out, the manager is satisfied. Digital can be inclusive, we are proving it. We can see it with these figures: access to healthcare is important for everyone. “In support of his demonstration to underline that Doctolib” democratizes access to care “, the company manager puts forward some additional statistics:” We have divided by three or four the time taken to make an appointment with a specialist. . It took 60 to 80 days, now it takes 20 to 30. “
300,000 healthcare professionals now subscribed
As for caregivers, the year 2021 will also have been a good year. 100,000 new health professionals swelled the ranks of 200,000 subscribers to its paid service (129 euros per month) of appointment scheduling software. Among these professionals, Doctolib counts 60,000 doctors, 13,000 dentists, 8,000 physiotherapists, 9,000 psychologists and 3,000 pharmacists. Two-thirds of the caregivers concerned work outside the 20 largest cities. Teleconsultation, launched in 2019, was truly democratized in March-April, at the time of the first confinement. To the point of weighing 20% in the activity of certain firms. And this even since the restrictions related to lockdowns were lifted.
Despite these staggering figures, the company is still not “profitable, but has a viable economic model”. This is why its leaders have announced an investment plan of 300 million euros. With new generation software, new functionalities (messaging between specialists) and the conquest of the hospital market. Doctolib already equips 250 hospitals in France, including those of the AP-HP (Paris) and the AP-HM (Marseille). A vast hiring plan – 700 creations planned for 2022, two-thirds of which will be in France – is also announced.
