Health rights activists root for adoption of telemedicine in Uganda 

Health rights activists have called for the adoption of telemedicine so as to help extend clinical treatment in real-time in the country. 

Under NetDoc Medicare, they contend that telemedicine will help reduce the medicare costs for patients across all departments, hospitals, and government.

For the last three years, NetDoc Medicare has been testing and proving the concept which aims at revolutionizing the health care system of Uganda. Currently, over 30 medical specialists have enrolled to offer virtual health care. According to Richard Olowo, the head of marketing at NetDoc Medicare, they developed an application that will help patients to remotely access health care services.

“Telemedicine is the remote diagnosis and treatment of patients through telecommunication technology. We offer a system for faster and improved service delivery through an enhanced checking and reducing turnaround time in the entire patient care process, facilitation and leveraging accessibility of specialists and consultant doctors who are not nearby,” he said.

He said different hospitals and practitioners charge differently but with telemedicine, the cost for all medical services has been subsidized and made cheaper. Under the platform, patients can interact with their doctors through video or audio calls and thereafter be accorded appropriate services. 

The patients are billed based on what they are suffering from and the medicines delivered from partner pharmacies. TDoctors can also use artificial intelligence in the examination of patients to reduce the cost of performing multiple tests in quest of what the patient is suffering from.

The platform is expected to help patients from all over the country to access medical specialists and health care through their phones. The patients can do a two-week check-up with their doctors and medical specialists without leaving their areas of convenience.

Safety of patient’s data

Ngwero Emma, an IT expert at NetDoc Medicare said the company secured a certificate from NITA-Uganda, Google, Top Hacking and Apple data protection certificate, a certificate from Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council, and other relevant entities.

“Patients’ data is protected. Whenever you (the patient) see the doctor, it is only you and the doctor that can interface with that information, and the information is stored. In between there is an end-to-end encryption that no one can interfere with your conversation,” he said.

Dr Willbrod Okungu, CEO of NetDoc Medicare stated that they have invested not just time, but millions of dollars to reach the company for Ugandans to remotely access health services.

“We wouldn’t want any gap especially when it comes to patients’ information. We know the world of hacking and all that but we got a certificate from a top hacker. He gave us a go-ahead because we needed to build something that will allow us to stay in the business and we shall be out of business the moment information leaks outside,” he said.

He said the country is facing a critical challenge of population growth and the rate at which it is producing professionals is low therefore, telemedicine will play a substantial role in delivering quality health care.