Tulum has a particular shape of clinic problem. Locals in town speak Spanish and want a familiar voice. Tourists from the US, Canada, and Europe land at the beach hotels and start typing in English when something hurts. The clinic that answers in the right language inside the first ten minutes is the clinic the patient trusts.
For Dr. Zavala, who runs MyDoctorAway, that meant the WhatsApp inbox was always either ignored or always being checked. There was no in-between. Locals on a Wednesday afternoon mixed with hotel calls at 11 PM mixed with tourists asking for a hotel visit at 7 AM. The phone was always doing something.
ClinDesk took the front door over a few months ago. Same number, same patients, same Dr. Zavala. The mechanics changed.
A patient writes in Spanish from a local number, asking about a check-up. ClinDesk answers in Spanish, quotes the local rate from the catalog, and tells the patient the doctor will follow up if they want to be seen. The doctor’s phone never lit up.
A tourist writes in English from a US country code: “I think I have an ear infection, I’m at Hotel X.” ClinDesk answers in English, asks the room number, quotes the tourist rate, mentions that home visits are an option, captures the address. By the time Dr. Zavala sees the message, the patient summary is ready.
A frustrated patient writes at 2 AM: “I’ve been throwing up for hours, I don’t know what to do.” ClinDesk recognizes the urgency, sends Dr. Zavala an alert on the Companion app with the patient’s words, age, and history. Dr. Zavala calls back himself in two minutes.
The shape of the inbox changed. The phone went quiet for routine questions. The phone got loud for the questions that needed a doctor.
All stories“Three weeks in I realized I hadn’t checked WhatsApp on a Saturday morning. The patients had still been answered.” Dr. Zavala
