“This recent pandemic has broken the inertia with respect to telemedicine services in the country, however for it to remain effective and useful even after the lock-down, we need a comprehensive digital health policy to make sure digital health can be integrated in the DNA of our health care system at a public as well as private sector level”, commented Dr. Sara Saeed Khurrum, Co-founder and CEO, Sehat Kahani while discussing the circumstances, the recent pandemic has created for Pakistan as a society, with our editor in Chief and how can Telemedicine services help society to cope up with the current crisis scenario.
1. What key role can Sehat Kahani, being a Telemedicine platform, play in the current crisis scenario?
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our “normal” to a world where we are physically distant but socially connected. In this health crisis, where patients are not able to reach doctors physically due to lock-downs and potential health risks between doctors and patients, telemedicine can be an incredibly important solution to connect doctors to patients. Telemedicine and other digital health technologies can play a prominent role in case detection, counselling and follow up effectively helping in testing, tracking and quarantine. It can also help in creating hotspots and identification of case clusters that can help in preventive strategies and health education activities.
Sehat Kahani aims to connect an untapped resource of PMDC-certified female physicians and connect them with patients across the nation, providing them with an affordable and convenient solution of telemedicine using their network of E- clinics in low income communities and via their mobile application for corporates and consumers. Sehat Kahani has impacted 150,000 plus patients till date and has a network of 1500 doctors.
2. With reference to the current outbreak, what recent initiatives have you taken to support and leverage telemedicine services in Pakistan?
In the current COVID-19 situation, where at one end our E- clinics have been affected across Pakistan due to lock-down, we, as a company, told a bold step to re-configure our services to help more people during this unfortunate Pandemic.
Sehat Kahani has mobile its Telemedicine mobile application FREE OF COST for anyone to use for the next 3 months. This service will be available 24/7.Our doctors and specialists are trained for COVID-19 screening/ counselling. This service will crucial for all those who might be suffering from COVID-19 or other primary care issues and cannot go to the hospital due to OPD closure or coronavirus exposure risk.
3. How are you educating your customers to use digital channels?
We have collaborated with the Government of Pakistan to create awareness about our platform and services. In one month more than 18,000 patients have been consulted on the platforms including COVID-19 suspected patients. We are also offering highly subsidized consultations packages for corporates who want to access the services for their employees in this time of need. This service is now being used by 32 corporations (130,000 lives).
We are also effectively using digital mediums to educate our users on the current situation using live sessions, live demos and sample videos to create hands on experiences for customers, creating and sharing useful and engaging content to keep them well informed.
4. What measures have you taken to support your front-line staff?
For our own employees, we are complying with a strict work from home policy for our core employees to keep them safe. At our clinics, we are working towards a strict SOP pertaining to all safety protocols under the guidelines provided by the government to make sure our clinics can help patients effectively as they become active.
