Telemedicine,
The county government of Murang’a is finalizing plans to roll out telemedicine services with the aim of improving service delivery in the health sector. The county administration will exploit the internet infrastructure already in place in the local hospitals to pilot telemedicine services in 44 selected health facilities from September this year.
If it succeeds, the telemedicine innovative service will allow patients to receive treatment from the comfort of their homes at the click of a button. The innovation in the health sector involves remote diagnosis and treatment of patients by the use of technology and is one of the growing concepts in the medical world.
Telemedicine will relieve patients of the costs of travelling as they will be connected virtually with specialized doctors after they get referred from dispensaries or health centres. Speaking on Saturday during a telemedicine conference for county health care workers held in a Murang’a hotel, governor Irungu Kang’ata said his administration is ready to leverage on technology and improve service delivery in the health sector.
Telemedicine, Kang’ata said is cost effective and will go a long way especially in the treatment of non-communicable and chronic diseases. He said Murang’a will be the first county to embrace telemedicine services in public health facilities explaining that the initiative is part of efforts to decongest the level four and level five facilities.
“In every ward, one health facility will be connected to telemedicine in the pilot which runs for six months. The platform will see patients linked with the medical officers online and receive the drugs prescribed,” Kang’ata said. The governor said training of medical workers is ongoing adding that members of the public will also be educated on telemedicine and other technologies to maximize the benefits of these advancements.
“With all the 160 health facilities now fully automated, patient care has become more efficient and accessible,” said Kang’ata. He continued, “the county is also making strides in solarizing our health facilities to ensure uninterrupted services during periods of power outages.”
During the conference, cutting-edge technologies including drones for medical deliveries, mobile apps for e-consultations, e-theaters and dialysis machines were showcased. Donors also donated 200 glucometers and 50 digital tablets to support the telemedicine initiative.
“This innovation is a big step toward decentralizing medical services and embracing the future of digital health,” averred Kang’ata. Meanwhile, Kang’ata said the challenges that have been hampering automation of the health operations will be fully handled noting he has liaised with the Ministry of Health which holds the servers of the county.
He underscored automation of services in the local health facilities saying revenue collected at Murang’a Level 5 hospital has gone up from Sh1.6 million to Sh 6 million per month. “Automation has also enabled revenue collected at Maragua Level 4 hospital to shoot from Sh60, 000 to Sh200, 000 per day. All the collected revenue is ploughed back to improve services in the hospitals,” He added.
Mr. Eric Wahu of BYON8 Company said they will partner with the county government to ensure the telemedicine services will be rolled out effectively. Wahu said his firm has been able to link more than one million patients with telemedicine services noting that the technology is highly used by private health facilities.
“Murang’a will be the first county to embrace telemedicine in public facilities and we strive to ensure the initiative succeeds,” he added. CEO of Healthx Africa, Roy Bore noted the automation of health services in Murang’a will greatly support rolling out of telemedicine services.
The technology, Bore said, is greatly used in developed nations and some countries in Africa are slowly embracing telemedicine. “With few specialized doctors, telemedicine is the way to go as patients who need their services will be attended to virtually by the medics,” added Bore.