The Nairobi Women’s Hospital (NWH) has become the latest hospital in Kenya to introduce telemedicine for its customers so that they can access healthcare service remotely.
This has been made necessary by the COVID-19 crisis where patients have been unable to go to hospital normally due to limited physical interaction according to Government’s guidelines. This also would also work for patients who have prescriptions and need to filled and sent remotely instead of having to go to the hospital.
NWH’s telemedicine feature makes it possible for patients to apply for healthcare services online, pay through Safaricom M-Pesa mobile money service and get consultation from a qualified doctor through the Hospital’s online portal. Patients can also have their prescription medicine delivered to their homes or offices through courier services.
The new product aims at ensuring that patients can continue seeking services from their preferred physicians without the need to go to any of the Hospital’s facilities and thereby maintain COVID-19 preventative guidelines.
“Traveling has been restricted as part of efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic which means that physical hospital visits are not encouraged unless in severe cases. But this does not mean that we should forget about our health. Our Telemedicine feature enables patients to continue seeking services needed to maintain their health without having to physically go to a Hospital,” said Dr. Sam Thenya, founder of the Nairobi Women’s Hospital.
To access the service patients should carry out the following steps:
- Book an appointment through the online portal https://ecare.nwch.co.ke:8000/
- Pay for the consultation fee via M-PESA
- Log in to the portal
- Consult online with a doctor
- Get a prescription
- Have the prescription delivered