Virtual treatment: Covid-19 led to formation of this online clinic
Dr Neema Lema.
The outbreak of Covid-19 two years ago brought about changes in all sectors, forcing most companies to take their businesses online.
Service providers too had to find ways of adjusting to the new norm, finding ways to reach customers who rarely ventured out of their homes.
Before Covid-19 came about, Neema Lema, a pediatrician who has been practicing for 10 years now, engaged her patients face to face in the three hospitals she had been working for. She, however, had a Facebook channel which she created in 2016, and through which her followers, parents with young children, could ask her questions. This channel would become even more popular as the pandemic begun to spread.
Doctor Lema was born and brought up in Tanzania. After completing her college studies, she pursued her Masters in medicine in Pediatrics and Child Health at the Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences in Mwanza, Tanzania.
“When I was in postgraduate school, we had multiple wards for children with protein energy malnutrition, I would talk to the mothers to understand what was really happening, and noted that most of them were young and clueless about balanced diets and what type of food to feed their children on,” says Dr Lema, adding that there were so many myths associated with food.
Health information
During her residency, she was also surprised how health information to the public was limited, and that what was out there was wrong information and myths that undermined the nutrition of children.
“There was, and still is a huge gap between health care workers and the general public as much as health affects us all,” says Dr Lema.
This is what led to interest in tackling health issues affecting children and empowering parents and caregivers.
When she moved to Kenya in 2012 to start a family, she worked in three hospitals where she got more exposure to the modern health challenges affecting children.
This led to the inception of her Facebook channel, The Health Channel, where she tackled topics related to pediatrics.
“A lot happened in 2016 and 2017, which led to temporary closure of the channel at the end of 2018 – I needed to strategise. When I relaunched in 2019, I started producing videos and other forms of content, which I continue to do,” she explains.
When the pandemic struck, most of her followers, some with newborn babies, started seeking her services online, wary of visiting hospitals, which had been identified as Covid-19 hotspots. This is how the virtual paediatric clinic came about
“With time, I was added to insurance panels, which made it possible to be part of the health-focused apps I am working with,” says Dr Lema.
She has so far partnered with two such applications.
Insured clients are required to download the Livia Health App or SasaDoc App. The consultation fee is Sh1,500 while those paying cash are charged Sh1,000.
Once an insured client downloads the apps, which are in Google’s Play Store, they then fill in details of their insurance policy and list their dependents.
Consult Doctor’
To consult a doctor, one taps on the tab ‘Consult Doctor’, enabling you to choose from the list of doctors available based on what your ailment is.
After this, one is asked to choose a mode of payment, insurance or cash. The client then makes a call and the doctor gets a notification on their end.
After consultation, one is given an option of prescription, lab or radiology. Medicine is delivered to the patient at their preferred location. For the laboratory services, one may choose to go to the lab or pay extra for the experts to pick the tests from their location, which also applies to radiology services. Once complete, the results are sent to the doctor.
She says that just like any other business, this one requires registration and a license. To get a virtual facility license however, the business must be linked to a physical facility.
She says that this mode of practicing still has a long way to go, but there is great progress towards the right direction.
“Most people are still hesitant (to seek virtual health services) because of the fact that physical examination is not done, but early adopters are enjoying the convenience of the services, such that at times, you have to go out of your way to convince those that need a physical examination to get one,” says Dr Lema.
