The doctor will see you now…on your phone or at home

For most Kenyans, consulting a doctor involves queuing for hours and sitting in crowded rooms.

Doctors are now offering an alternative, some sort of concierge healthcare, where they treat you from the comfort of your home, car, or office.

HealthX Africa launched virtual medical services, which enables patients to make medical consultations through video or voice calls and live-chat anytime with doctors.

“Besides the round-the-clock unlimited access to doctors, users have access to an in-house nutritionist, clinical psychologist, and referral for specialist consultation and secondary or tertiary care,” said Qaizer Manji, the CEO of HealthX.

Patients pay a subscription fee to access the virtual doctors, either by employers as part of their employee benefits package, insurance, or directly by the consumers.

Should a patient require further assessment, he or she visits the physical clinic on an appointment basis.

By next year, Mr Manji said the company plans to expand into a programme called Hospital@Home which will allow patients to be monitored and treated at the comfort of their homes or offices to reduce unnecessary hospital admissions, long hospital stays, and complications that arise, and stress for family members. He says will fill three gaps; access, quality, and affordability of healthcare.

“The Covid-19 pandemic pushed many consumers to embrace telehealth services at a faster rate than anticipated. McKinsey & Company did a global telehealth analysis in July which shows over 40 percent of patients are willing to continue using telehealth services going forward. Investments in virtual health are therefore expected to grow at record levels as traditional healthcare providers also receive market pressure to innovate,” he said.

And it is this niche market that 24-year-old Esther Edgar is serving. A registered health practitioner, she links doctors to patients.

“We travel, not the patient,” she says.

“We assess a patient’s situation, determine the specialist you need to see, link you to them, we tell you when they are available, and notify them that you are going to see them. We also do mobile laboratory investigations based on requests from clients who may have visited health centres without equipped laboratories,” she adds.

They also do simple tests such as pregnancy tests, urine analysis, blood sugar tests at home, and you receive their valid stamped results on the spot.

“We also interpret the results and depending on the client’s requests, link them up to other specialists,” says Ms Edgar.

They have also partnered with mobile health services providers to offer mobile ultrasound services.

“For instance, a woman can get the entire gynaecology services at the comfort of her home. We also do blood pressure monitoring to prevent the risk of stroke, as well as wound dressing,” she says.

Home visits

Another telemedicine platform is Vezeeta, an online platform that was introduced in Kenya in 2020.

Through Vezeeta app, patients book doctor appointments, schedule follow-up teleconsultations, book doctor’s home visits, diagnostics, and order and buy medicine, all at the click of a button.

If using medical insurance cards, patients can scan their cards and find doctors, hospitals, clinics, and clinics that match.

“The scarcity of doctors, amplified by the average travel time of up to three hours to the nearest health facility, and long waiting periods to see a doctor, add to the urgent need for digital transformation and disruption within the existing health system,” said Nana Frimpong, Africa’s Vezeeta vice president during its launch in August 2020.

The company has offices in Kenya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan Lebanon, and Nigeria.

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