Telemedicine consultation now accessible to Telkom Kenya clients

Telemedicine consultation can now be accessed by all Telkom customers, subsidized by the company in partnership with Valentis Health, a health service providing telemedicine founded by doctors.

The telemedical consultancy service dubbed Dial Daktari will allow Telkom customers to get in touch with a board of licensed doctors through their phones. This will allow people who wish to visit the doctor to do so without breaking social distancing rules, putting both patient and doctor in less danger.

Dr. Don Othoro, founder and CEO of Valentis Health, expressed that the merging of online and offline healthcare allows their doctors to present seamless telemedicine consultation as effective as those in person.

Customers can get access to this service by calling a toll-free number. A care manager will then take the caller through the triage step by step, and then assign them to a doctor who will then proceed with the telemedicine consultation.

If a prescription is needed then the doctor can issue one and send it either directly to the patient or via partnering pharmacies. Dial Daktari also allows referrals to specialists and laboratories should the need arise. In case of emergency, Dial Daktari will help with dispatching an ambulance to the patient for transportation to the hospital or further assessment.

The app doesn’t just offer consultations however. Tracking symptoms, calling and video calling doctors are also some of the features it includes. In addition, a team of counsellors have been made available for patients suffering from acute stress or anxiety, seeing as mental health issues are on the rise in these difficult times.

“The role that technology can play in promoting effective healthcare cannot be overstated,” says Telkom’s Chief Executive Officer, Mugo Kibati. Their partnership with Valentis Health and their facilitation of telemedicine consultation will help “bridge the gap” between people and their physicians. In a time of social distancing, patients being able to stay home and communicate with their doctors is an important step forward.

“Specifically, the digitization of patient details, will, perhaps, eventually allow the virtual access of patient records from any location, enabling medical staff to attend to patients brought to hospital based on this virtual data,” says Kibati.