The evolution of medicine has allowed technology to get futuristic especially in terms of medical care, advanced treatments, and scientific achievements.

Dr. Marcus Tan, a reputable Australian innovator, and businessman found a way to combine traditional medicine with today’s ultra-modern science and implement a better, faster, and stronger low-cost platform - Health Engine.

Health Engine is an urban directory and an online booking tool that permits patients to schedule medical appointments and attend consultations without actually having to visit their doctor. Moreover, the platform’s health engine makes it possible for patients to manage their medical affairs, whilst allowing hospitals to automate their day-to-day operations, track their workflow, access patient records, and ensure their overall quality of service.

Building Australia’s biggest health-tech online marketplace from the ground up was not an easy hurdle to jump over. Here is the story of how one goal-oriented man became the leader in prompt, practical, and prosperous hospital management - worldwide!

The Changemaker

Growing up in Sydney, in a modest Australian family, Marcus always took interest in a line of things. Even when he still was a youngster, Marcus’s curiosity for medicine was obvious.

He was intrigued by human illnesses and spent most of his time reading medical books elaborating diseases, diagnoses, and prevention measures. Throughout his childhood, Marcus was driven by the idea of solving complex problems, fixing things, and discovering solutions when no one else could.

Marcus was pretty much a nerd in his teenage years and enjoyed playing chess - lots of it. He was focused on sharpening his mind and expanding his perceptions by contemplating forward-thinking strategies in gaming, thus giving himself the upper hand as a decision-maker.

When the time came to attend college, Marcus decided he wanted to study medicine at the UWA, University of Western Australia, where he graduated in 1997 and earned his medical degree.

After graduating, Marcus became a Fellow which led him to become a part of the General Practitioners of the Royal Australian College, where during practice, he developed a huge interest in minor surgeries and skin cancer. Shortly after, Marcus became the medical director of a national clinic group for skin cancer.

In 2005 Marcus went to the Australian Graduate School of Management from where he earned an Executive MBA. Marcus’s diverse abilities encouraged him to think in terms of both medicine and technology, and strategically combine them both to help him unlock various complex problems.

The Journey to Inspiration

For Marcus, there was one particular period in his life that was detrimental to both his professional career - his time studying general practice at UWA.

In his first three years of pre-clinical education, Marcus was finding it difficult to separate and balance his personal and professional life. Stuck in-between social life and studies, and uninspired by the exhausting theory often to be learned by heart, Marcus occupied his free time playing sports, whilst remaining dedicated to his long hours of learning. He spent most of his time at the recreational center, where he played badminton, basketball, and a variety of other sports.

Going to the gym was Marcus’s favorite activity next to partying. In turn, being athletic and active uplifted Marcus’s mood and gave him a generous energy boost that helped him stay in physical and academic shape. But, everything changed the moment when Marcus kicked off the second stage of his studies. He had three full years of practice ahead, and plenty of time to become clinically prepared.

Marcus visited many different hospitals during this time, met countless patients, interacted with them all, and tried to learn more about their medical needs. For Marcus, the research he did was far more enjoyable than dry, theoretical learning. The training Marcus obtained during those three years led him to witness numerous issues: a lack of hospice flexibility, waiting room overcrowdedness, and the difficulty patients faced when trying to get a hold of general physicians, dentists, psychiatrists, and other medical experts.

Equipped with abundant knowledge to make a difference in the industry itself, Dr. Marcus next aimed to create a digital platform that would wholesomely restore the health system.

Australia’s Largest Health Tech Platform

As a doctor himself, the first thing Marcus did to promote his business dream was to develop a strategy to make his platform viral, thus bettering the Australian health system.

To simplify the complex pattern of booking appointments and navigating through the health system in general, Marcus created Health Engine - a unique platform that allows people to have access to real-time appointments and book a consultation whenever they needed it the most.

Health Engine also makes it super easy for hospitals and healthcare centers to track their patient records, manage their appointments more precisely and timely, and avoid the overall havoc waiting in line for a checkup.

Health Engine was founded in 2006 and had the goal of introducing a revolutionary project to ameliorate the Australian health system and make it more accessible to all patients in need.

Through the use of technology and modern design, Health Engine’s mission is to include more and more patients eager to schedule a doctor’s appointment at their convenience, receive a correct diagnosis, and ultimately, find a suitable treatment for their condition.

Another purpose of the platform is to limit or drastically reduce the mortality rate among patients seeking urgent medical solutions, as well as to facilitate medical management for both patients and hospitals, ultimately transforming the outmoded access to healthcare worldwide.

A Company Profile

Since its official launch, Health Engine has earned both the trust and reputability of patients and medical workers. Before Marcus came along, the healthcare industry had been stuck in a rut, struggling to survive under the obvious pressure and also cope with the growing number of new patients seeking treatment on a daily basis.

Today, Health Engine provides its patients with over 30 million specialist consultations, all managed and arranged through a functional online booking system that delivers quick results and keeps the chaos at bay.

Intriguingly, the platform did beyond well in its first years of existence - and ever since - with over 7 million Australians choosing it as its leading service provider and giving it a success score of 4.8 out of 5. Headquartered in Perth, Health Engine has raised a total funding amount of AUD 37.8 million, over 4 rounds.

Health Engine has a total of 8 main investors, with its most recent ones being Greg Roebuck and the GO Capital Fund.

Health Engine, Today

Nowadays, the platform employs around 250 staffers and continues to recruit talent. Since its beginnings, the company has been more than willing to continue expanding its team, and ultimately gather a strong potential of experts and medical pundits able to contribute to its growth.

After its groundbreaking success, Health Engine has remained the leading online booking platform and provider in Australia, as well as the biggest company in the healthcare industry that shows no signs of stopping or settling.

The platform nurtures majestic ambitions of expanding overseas, with high hopes of introducing their refined and simplified methods that help reorganize, reframe and repurpose the way patients use the healthcare system.

Dr. Marcus’s invention continues to impress the world with a fascinating quality of service, simplicity of use, and downright authenticity, all the while staying true to its unbreakable vow - to keep patients in need close and high-end hospital services closer!