By
To improve healthcare services, a lifestyle
company has unveiled a telemedicine app, dokita247.com in Lagos recently.
The app, which is expected to be freely available
for every smart phone user in the country will reduce medical tourism, minimise
consultation and treatment time between physicians and patients.
Announcing this during its launch, Dr. Richard
Afonja, the app developer, said the platform can be downloaded on google play
store and apple store with any smart phone.
Afonja added that there exist real, verified,
credentialed and vetted physicians waiting to respond to all health diagnosis
and treatment enquiries by patients using the app.
“The app is presently being used in in the United
States. By January 2018 it will be in effect in Nigeria, and we hope to spread
this to other African countries very soon.
“Using the app may extend the lifespan of
Nigerians as they can seat in the comfort of their home and office for the
consultation, laboratory tests and drug prescriptions,” the Founder who is also
a US based medical expert said.
On his part, Dr. Francis Faduyile, the key note
speaker, said such telemedicine can change the face of healthcare in Nigeria as
it can be both beneficial for patients and he healthcare providers.
For the providers, this can aid in reviewing
patient information, provide medical advice, connect to the facility’s
electronic health record and manage clinical messages among others. The
patients can use it to view, schedule and make appointments using web portals,
view medical information from the Internet, find healthcare providers, and find
pharmacies.
“This will help patients have access to the safest
and highest-quality care, regardless of how much they earn, where they live,
how sick they are, or the color of their skin. Patients must be the first
priority and the focus of the transformed system.”
The new technologies will allow remote monitoring
of patients and their access to healthcare, health data collection, patient
identification, medicine administration, medication compliance, information
exchange with the providers and other patients.
It will also allow access to medical record,
among several other benefits
that would continue to accrue with the fast pace development of medical and
allied health technologies.
Similarly, Mr. Silva Umukoro, Chief Financial
Officer, Dokita247 also noted that telemedicine will bridge the gap between
doctors and patients as well as reduce healthcare challenges bedeviling Nigeria
and Africa as whole.
