From Conexa to Docpass: The Competitive Environment of Telemedicine Platforms

ABSTRACT The case reports the trajectory of a telemedicine platform in Brazil. Conexa, a company that already operated with a telemedicine B2B model, took advantage of the regulatory change during the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) and launched Docpass, a B2C platform. The pandemic not only brought about a change in legislation, but also provided a context that reduced cultural barriers to the adoption of such a service for both doctors and patients. The case is recommended for Strategy and Innovation disciplines, more specifically in sessions dedicated to business models based on platforms, when the following learning objectives are worked on: (a) diagnosis of COVID-19 effects in a telemedicine business by comparing before, during, and after the pandemic; (b) understanding the network effects present on the platforms and their reflections in terms of value; (c) understanding the competitive dynamics in a platform ecosystem.

摘要 本案例报告了巴西某远程医疗平台的发展轨迹。已开展远程医疗企业对企业（B2B）模式业务的Conexa公司，借势新冠疫情（COVID-19）期间的监管政策调整，推出了企业对消费者（B2C）平台Docpass。此次疫情不仅推动了相关立法变革，更营造了适宜环境，降低了医患双方接纳此类服务的文化壁垒。本案例适用于战略与创新学科的教学，尤其适用于聚焦平台型商业模式的课程环节，可达成以下学习目标：(a) 通过对比疫情前、疫情期间与疫情后三个阶段，分析新冠疫情对远程医疗业务的影响；(b) 理解平台所具备的网络效应及其对价值创造的影响；(c) 理解平台生态系统内的竞争动态。