Kuwait based, AbiDoc, the region’s first ever online direct doctor appointment service, was announced as the winner of the “Most Innovative Mobile Application” Award,  at the 4th Annual MENA LTE Conference that was held from the 11^th to the 13^th of May 2014 at the Conrad Hotel, Dubai, UAE.

AbiDoc means, “I want a doctor” in local colloquial Arabic, and is the first service in the region that enables patients to directly book an appointment with a doctor that best fits their needs. It can be accessed via the web, contact centre, or AbiDoc smartphone apps for iOS and Android.

As part of the 4th Annual MENA LTE Conference, 35 applications from around the world were shortlisted, with a further six companies invited to present their applications.

Despite fierce competition, AbiDoc was selected as the winner by a panel of expert judges that included mobile, telecom and internet executives, investors, and thought leaders from Yahoo, Etisalat, and Noortelecom.

Chairman of AbiDoc, Dr. Mussaad Al-Razouki, was present to accept the award on behalf of the Kuwait based company.

“It was an honor to be nominated and to win the coveted most innovative mobile application title.” Said Dr. Razouki.  “We treasure this vote of confidence from such an esteemed panel of judges that represent the top thinkers and decision makers in tech and telecommunications.

“This award highlights the need for increased transparency and accountability in the healthcare system, which is a primary objective behind the AbiDoc platform.”

The goal of AbiDoc is to help connect patients to doctors and help educate patients about the best way to find, learn more about, and choose a doctor and book an appointment. However, the app does not promote one hospital, clinic, medical centre or practice over another or one doctor over the other.

The benefits of using AbiDoc can be summarized as Free, Fast and Reliable:

Free – AbiDoc is and will always be free for patients to use. Whether visiting www.AbiDoc.com or downloading its mobile applications on iOS or Android or calling the contact centre, AbiDoc will not charge patients for the process of booking, rescheduling or canceling an appointment.

Fast – the traditional process of booking an appointment with a doctor can take quite a bit of time. First you have to find the correct phone number, then you have to wait on hold or you might even get a busy signal, and when you finally do get through to the secretary, the doctor might be in surgery, with another patient or may not even take any appointments by the phone. With AbiDoc, you can easily book your first appointment with a certified doctor within two minutes, reschedule an appointment within 10 seconds and cancel an appointment in five seconds.

Reliable: All the doctors on AbiDoc have been prescreened by the AbiDoc team and all the information provided is authorized by the doctors themselves. All patient information is kept safe and secure following United States of America HIPAA standards and is only shared with the patient’s doctor and trusted staff. Patients can also view all previous visits under their Patient Account and this information is only shown to the patient.

AbiDoc also has many benefits for doctors. Some of these include:

Doctors don’t need any special downloads or software or hardware to use AbiDoc – just a desktop/laptop computer (Apple or PC) with an internet connection.

After proving the concept in Kuwait, Dr. Razouki stated that AbiDoc is now focused on penetrating the Saudi market along with its local Saudi partners.

The AbiDoc team are also constantly adding new features to AbiDoc via its website (www.AbiDoc.com) and its mobile applications.

AbiDoc can be followed on Twitter and Instagram via @AbiDoc and on its Facebook page: