Since the pandemic, GP consultations increased 235 per cent and web traffic increased by 144 per cent.
Australia-based telehealth service Doctors on Demand will use Micro Focus’ Fortify on Demand solution to improve its security following substantial growth in the commercial sector and the increased demand for telehealth services.
The growth for services, coupled with the change in government policy regarding telehealth brought on by COVID-19, has meant that the need for Doctors on Demand has increased significantly. Before the pandemic Doctors on Demand was growing at 30 per cent month-on-month, said Kirsty Garrett CEO at Doctors on Demand.
“Since the pandemic, GP consultations increased 235 per cent and web traffic increased by 144 per cent,” she said. “This trend is likely to continue into the future with the industry demanding that the changes to Medicare with regards to telehealth be permanent, opening up our Medicare-subsidised services to the entire Australian population.”
According to Garrett Doctors on Demand has clients ranging from individual users to large global enterprises that offer the service as part of their employee health and wellness benefits.
“To ensure it was meeting the highest global standards of security for both individuals and large enterprise clients,” she said. “Including compliance such as Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Doctors on Demand embarked on a program of upgrading its security policies, procedures and application security.”
According to Garrett, to do this Doctors on Demand engaged Micro Focus’ integrator KJR, to undertake a full security capability assessment to formalise its processes and policies and ensure things like penetration testing and source code vulnerabilities could be managed and remediated in a timely manner.
“The Doctors on Demand platform can be integrated into corporate systems; and given businesses are endorsing and promoting a third-party software application to their employees for medical services means that Doctors on Demand needed to provide a level of surety and comfort to all of our users,” she said.
KJR used Micro Focus Fortify on Demand to scan the source code of the public web application, www.doctorsondemand.com.au and its iOS and Android applications to ensure any potential links between the mobile apps and the web application were taken into account.
The scans uncovered some minor vulnerabilities, with typical results expected for these types of applications. These were easily remediated, ensuring Doctors on Demand reached its security goals.
Doctors on Demand has a large, flexible workforce of Australian registered practitioners, patients can see an online doctor, psychologist, or dietitian from the comfort and convenience of their home or work, using any device. Patients choose their practitioner and appointment time to discuss health concerns securely and conveniently, request a repeat prescription, a referral or medical certificate. With a network of about 2,500 pharmacies, patients can conveniently collect their medications from their nominated pharmacy directly after their online consultation.
