A new health-care platform, Salu, offers people an option to chat or have a call with qualified doctors in their own language, just in minutes.
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Salu’s focus is to bring an affordable, accessible and a convenient digital health-care solution to expats and travellers globally. The platform currently enables consultation with a doctor in three languages – English, Russian and Estonian.
“Through Salu platform, you can chat or call with a qualified doctor from wherever you are, in English, Russian or Estonian. You will get a response in minutes by doctors from leading clinics in Estonia. Feel free to use the platform if you or your family member has a health-related question or concern, regardless how big or small the matter is,” Salu’s founder Andreas Kotsjuba told Estonian World.
Initially, doctors are available from Monday to Sunday, between 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM Estonian time – GMT +2. However, they strive to provide 24/7 availability so people can reach a doctor conveniently, regardless of when and where they need help, Kotsjuba said.
You can feel safe and comfortable talking with a doctor as the conversation is strictly confidential, just between you and the doctor.
Although Salu has been available for just about fortnight, it already has around 150 users who have made around 50 consultations with doctors. “So far, feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and vast majority of users have given maximum ratings to the doctors they have consulted with,” Kotsjuba noted.
Personal experience inspired Salu
The idea of Salu began when Kotsjuba, while travelling through several countries with his family, experienced difficulties accessing medical help when his children got sick.
“We came across to the same questions: where to find a reliable, trusted doctor? How to make yourself understandable to the doctor and understand the doctor’s advice when neither of you don’t comfortably speak the same language? How to get help quickly and conveniently, especially when it is difficult to travel with a sick child or when COVID restrictions limit accessing doctors? And so forth,” Kotsjuba explained.
After talking with his friends as well as expats and travellers from various countries, the same problems and stories he had experienced resonated with the others. That was when Kotsjuba and the company’s co-founder Andres Kukk understood that the lack of straightforward and fast medical access causes high level of anxiety and unease for people who are away from home.
As Kotsjuba and Kukk had been building digital banking services for the past seven years, they had knowledge and hands-on experience on how technology could transform the way a traditional, highly regulated industry works. All this led to building and launching Salu.
Try it out
This December, Salu offers its service for free for expats, travellers and freelancers. “During this trial period, we are looking to reach as many people as possible, listen to their stories about what kind of help they need and try to solve their problems as best as we can. This helps us build a product truly addressing the problems expats and travellers may experience when accessing medical help,” Kotsjuba said.
“After the trial period, the first consultation remains for free and every other consultation costs €5, equivalent of a cost of taking taxi to a doctor.”
Kotsjuba added that he was genuinely interested to hear back from the users – who are welcome to leave their feedback about the service on within the Salu platform or write directly to him at andreas@salu.md.
To try out the service and talk with a doctor, visit Salu’s platform.
The cover image is illustrative.
