The founder of the jobs website Bayt.com has always had his finger on the pulse of the internet industry - and has now put his Web skills to use in the medical profession.
Rabea Ataya, one of the Middle East's early Web pioneers, has launched an online bookings service that links directly with appointment systems in doctors' clinics.
DoctorUna.com is free for patients to use, with revenues coming from charges paid by physicians and dentists to list on the site.
"For doctors, it's basically a marketing tool. It's a way for people in the region to find out about them and, ultimately, fill their appointment books," said Mr Ataya.
"Doctors pay a monthly subscription to have their profiles on the site. It's in the range of US$150 [Dh550] a month," he said.
The site allows users to search for practitioners, book medical and dental appointments and filter clinics by the insurance cover they accept.
While the site lists about 100 physicians based in Dubai, Mr Ataya said the website would launch in other markets by the end of the year and in up to a dozen cities across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) by this time next year.
Some clinics already accept bookings via email or website forms - but few services link directly with "live" appointment diaries.
The launch of DoctorUna.com follows the launch of the rival service Doktor-i in 2010.
Bayt.com, which launched in 2000 and claims nine million registered members, is live in 12 cities across the Mena region.
It plans to advertise jobs in Oman and Iraq by end of this year and is considering expanding to Libya and Tunisia next year, said Mr Ataya.
"We've got some subcontinent plays, which I'm not yet in a position to commit to, possibly India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, even Sri Lanka - they are all interesting markets," he said.
Bayt.com faces stiff competition this year with the arrival of LinkedIn, which is expected to open an office at Dubai Internet City in the coming months.
The American business-networking site is expected to sell corporate recruiting services from its Dubai office in direct competition to some of the services advertised by Bayt.com.
Bayt was one of the early backers of GoNabit, the daily-deals website acquired by the US site LivingSocial last year.
LivingSocial last month made the surprise decision to exit the Middle East market just over a year after its acquisition of GoNabit.
Mr Ataya acknowledged the Web industry in the Middle East was not as easy or as large as in Europe and the United States.
But he insisted there was still money to be made here.
"The region still has a healthy internet market but it's one where you have to be very patient," he said. "There are healthy returns to be had. But one should be pragmatic in their expectations."
