Rural health is more than a video consultation

Digital healthcare is suddenly not something so far fetched anymore and no longer is it just sms-based communication like what we saw just a few year ago. The Corona pandemic has found various ways to improve access to healthcare. However there are still many people in rural communities who do not have access to basic healthcare. With a population of almost 60 million and a lack of healthcare professionals many people still have limited access to healthcare.

I believe that with digitalization we can change the landscape and make healthcare accessible to the most vulnerable populations. HealthFOX has been developing digital solutions to improve access to care since 2014. But before we look at the way in which we solve this issue let’s look at access of care. This is not just being able to see a doctor but it is also having access to information and support while managing disease or recovering from disease or surgery. Truly creating a holistic patient centric solution. There are various ways in which this can be done and HealthFOX brings it all together.

We start with the Imaging Room our solution for rural health. With this initiave we improve service delivery to the most vulnerable populations in rural areas. The solution can be set up in existing facilities or be set up as an individual digital clinic to support the need in the area or function as a mobile unit. The imaging rooms serves as a connection hub for patients and enhance health service delivery. With smart solutions to screen and triage patients, service delivery is streamlined and reduce the waiting time.

Imaging Room will provide service to surrounding areas within a 2-10 km radius. This will be developed together with the local teleoperators and HealthFOX ecosystem partners, to enhance connectivity and service to the area.

We are very proud of our Imaging Room that was put in service a year ago with local farmers in the North-West Province of South-Africa. The nearest hospital is about 120 km away, and only one ambulance serves the whole area. The outcomes might seem small in the day-to-day business but the appreciation and gratitude from patients who have had trouble to see a doctor and get referral for further testing is worth more than words can tell. But there is more to this than just video consultation with the integrated data information from various source we could provide a one-snapshot view of the patient’s condition to the doctor meets with them. Dr. Roy, situated in Johannesburg, provides regular doctor consultations to our rural clinic. He stated that taking video calls and having access to a snapshot view of the patient’s holistic situation improves doctor time efficiency. This way he can use less time interviewing and finding information to understand the situation and really focus on the patient’s current condition. With the one-snapshot view we can save doctor’s time between 30-40% leaving more time to discuss treatment options with the patient.

If you would like to get involved in this initiative, please get in touch:

equalhealth@healthfox.co.za