SYLVIA HII, Ceo, Digital A Plus
In the current day and age, a wave of digitization has taken over the world, and healthcare is no exception. New technologies and innovations have resulted in extremely competitive pharmaceutical industry, and thus offering enormous opportunities in the digital space.
In 2011, when the pharmaceutical industry was thriving, Sylvia Hii, the Founder & CEO of Digital A Plus, and Vikas Sharma, the co-founder & Managing Director, saw a golden opportunity to enter the healthcare market. With over 15 years of experience in business management, program execution, consulting and client servicing, they set up Digital A Plus, a pioneering medico-digital solution provider that helps pharmaceutical companies to thrive in the competitive era with its world-class solutions in medical communications, healthcare digital excellence, and strategic consultancy. “Our clienteles are Takeda, Sanofi, Novartis, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, GSK, Abbvie, Eisai, SUN Pharma, Dr.Reddy’s Lab, Cipla & etc. We have completed more than 10,000 projects till date,” states Sylvia.
Soaring to Great Heights from Humble Beginning
They say big things often have a small beginning and this phrase seems so true for digital A Plus. The innovative company started in 2011, in a small two-room house in Bangalore, India, with just four employees. However, within a short span of time, it grew into a large office space and managed to spread its wings to the Southeast Asia region. It further strengthened its venture by setting a strong footprint in Malaysia, China, and Singapore. Today, Digital A Plus stands tall as a leading medico-digital solution provider in pharma and healthcare industry. Its World-class and comprehensive solutions tailored to diverse healthcare needs have been strengthening its reputation so far. Recently, Digital A Plus was recognized by APAC CIO Outlook as top 25 healthcare technology solution providers in 2018, which is a feather in the cap.
The company is in business with many major pharmaceutical, nutrition and biotechnology companies across a wide variety of therapeutic areas. “Our key differentiator is our ability to provide interactive, customized and cost-effective content with a quick delivery without compromising on the quality. We have a highly qualified team with expertise in a wide range of therapeutic areas who have established relationships with key opinion leaders, and we help our clients achieve their communication needs, whether they are global, regional or local,” says Sylvia.
Delivering Cutting Edge Products and Services
Digital A Plus’ cutting-edge solutions are imbued with powerful technologies like augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI). Its DNA series is a mobile App that engages HCPs and patients through high-end 3D animations. It allows people to interact with any virtual environment they want to create. AR and VR services are generally time-consuming and expensive but Digital A Plus efficiently delivers the same – cost-effectively and quickly. Its AI-powered chatbots help in customer support, sales, product recommendation, brand discovery and follow-up communication. It is highly advantageous with 24*7 availability, low cost, instant engagement, improved overall efficiency and centralized knowledge.
Additionally, the firm also offers DIGI CONNECT Platform, a new-age personalized doctor engagement tool that leverages on real-world evidence and advanced analytics to provide integrated multichannel marketing, HCP touchpoints for the campaign and persona mapping with the data and insights generated.
It has also undertaken a novel academic initiative called Digital A Plus Knowledge Academy accredited by its renowned, world-class medical university partners in the US and Europe to provide CME education for doctors, pharmacists, and nurses. It is important for HCPs to be aware of their online branding at the digital age, and for doctors to become digitally-enabled KOLs; hence, Digital A Plus offers an online reputation management program that helps project expertise, influence patient perception and delivers better care.
Digital A Plus is also trusted as a strategic consultancy partner as their strategies to improve marketing, sales, customer engagement, shrink timelines, boost KPIs, portfolio and growth are much in demand. Finally, its value-added services, such as training and workshops, help customers build proficiency in digital expertise.
Fostering a Creative, Innovative and Healthy Work Culture
Digital A Plus believes that happy employees create happy customers. Hence the firm focuses on enriching the company culture to help employees to reach their maximum potential. To motivate and encourage the employees, Digital A Plus has divided employees into teams and has employee engagement unit within the organization. The company also follows a distinctive approach called buddy system in which teams are divided into small groups and assigned to a buddy wherein they not only brainstorm, share and learn new technologies but also discuss their thoughts on professional and personal life.
The company is led by friendly leaders who ensure that employees can always talk to the management and the team internally. All employees are encouraged to be independent and are given spaces to freely express and grow. The seniors are thought to share and coach their team in order to grow in their career, taking more challenging tasks. Being a strong advocate of women empowerment, Sylvia says, “We provide special care to working mothers and their kids by providing flexible working hours. Kids are always welcome here to hang out with their parents.”
Intend to Explore the Maximum Potential of the Digital World
Regarding the rest of 2019 and beyond, Digital A Plus will continue looking for opportunities to create even more innovative products to serve today’s unmet challenges in medical communications and promotion by the pharmaceutical organizations. Moving ahead, the firm plans to follow an unconventional approach to drive long-term brand lifecycle and engagement among all key stakeholders while continuing to explore the maximum potential of the digital world to bring innovative ideas to life. “We aim to become the world-class content provider for pharma and healthcare industry,” concludes Sylvia.
