Telco giant Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) is hardly the first company that springs to mind when you are talking about e-health.
You might consider companies like Primary Health Care Limited (ASX: PRY) and its network of medical centres, or hospital operators like Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC) and Healthscope Limited (ASX: HSO) to be more likely candidates.
But Telstra is approaching e-health seriously and plans to utilise its vast networks and telecommunications infrastructure to deliver e-health services to customers in future.
What is e-health?
So what have I been prattling on about for the last minute or so? E-Health is the delivery of a doctor's services or a consultation via digital means. That could be via a video link, VOIP phone call, delivered right into the customer's home or location by a doctor or specialist at another location.
Telstra has already made a number of acquisitions in the e-health space. In April 2015, it purchased Medibank Private Limited's (ASX: MPL) Anywhere Healthcare network. Anywhere Healthcare is designed to help people in regional and remote areas, or those with mobility issues get access to doctors and specialists via video conferencing. Anywhere currently provides around 600-700 consultations a month, but it's an emerging and growing business.
Most recently, Telstra announced ReadyCare, which will provide 24 hours 7 days a week access to a general practitioner (GP). Developed in conjunction with joint venture partner Medgate and based on a Swiss online model, ReadyCare is expected to be launched on July 1, according to The Australian.
What is most surprising is that Telstra is launching the service with its own small team of doctors, nurses and receptionists. Eventually, ReadyCare will be rolled out to other GPs who want to supplement their income with extra consultations, for a small fee of course.
Thanks to a host of small acquisitions, Telstra has built up a wide suite of e-health products including software and apps for hospitals, pharmacies, doctors, aged and community care, and consumers. One product, HealthEngine, is Australia's largest online appointment booking system and health marketplace – but it has attracted other competitors, including 1stAvailable Ltd (ASX: 1ST) which plans to list on the ASX later this week.
What might surprise you is that in the last six months, Telstra's Health division delivered $31.5 million in revenues. That might be small now, but could become a significant part of Telstra's growth outside telecommunications. Give the tailwinds of an ageing and increasing population, Telstra Health could be the sleeper business of the decade.
