Telkom Kenya partners with Valentis Health to launch subsidized telemedicine services
Telkom Kenya customers will now have convenient and subsidised access to medical consultations through its partnership with Valentis Health, a doctor-founded healthcare service providing telemedicine.
The medical consultancy service, Dial Daktari, will give Telkom customers access to board licensed doctors, via their phones. This service will enable patients to observe physical distancing and to mitigate the risk of person-to-person infection, as stipulated by health authorities during this pandemic.
Telkom customers will access this service through a toll-free number, 0800-221-011. A care manager will take you through triage and then assign you to a doctor for a consultation.
If a prescription is required, one will be issued by the doctor and will be sent directly to one of various partnering pharmacies or directly to the patient.
Dial Daktari will also make referrals to specialists or to laboratories for further investigations. In emergency cases, Dial Daktari will facilitate the dispatch of an ambulance to the patient for further assessment and transfer to a hospital.
A teleconsultation will cost Telkom customers KSh. 450, payable via T-Kash Paybill Number 144563.
In addition to the phone consultations, the Valentis Health App will allow patients to track symptoms, communicate with the doctors via text and also through video consultations. With Mental Health becoming an increasing and rising concern in this time, Dial Daktari has a team of counsellors to assist patients experiencing acute stress and anxiety.
The Founder and CEO of Valentis Health, Dr. Don Othoro, says: “The integration of online and offline healthcare means that our doctors are able to deliver seamless consultations, just as they would in person.”
Dr. Othoro adds: “With the COVID - 19 crisis and mandatory physical distancing guidelines, patients have been asked to avoid unnecessary visits to health care facilities where they may put themselves or others at risk of infection. With this in mind, telemedicine has become an integral part of primary health care, enabling patients to seek medical attention for non COVID-medical conditions as well enquire about possible COVID symptoms.”
Telkom’s Chief Executive Officer, Mugo KIBATI says: “Technology will continue to play an integral part in the lives of Kenyans, more so now that it is enabling them to make the switch to conducting their affairs, virtually, from home: working from home, distance learning, virtual socialisation and now even getting to have medical consultation via phone. As a corporate citizen, we at Telkom chose to continue focusing our corporate social interventions and partnerships on areas such as these, where our core service will have direct and immediate impact, during this time.”
Telkom has also donated a 50 Mbps link to the Kenyatta National Hospital’s Infectious Diseases Unit at Mbagathi. The free Internet has enabled patients in quarantine as well as the frontline nurses, medical officers and doctors at the Mbagathi facility, to keep in touch with their loved ones and the outside world.
Telkom has also provisioned the National Emergency Response Committee on Coronavirus, that is based at the Ministry of Health’s offices at Afya House, with free Internet connectivity, to support their work in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya. The 200 Mbps link will also be used by the Ministry of Health’s offices at Afya House.
Mr. KIBATI adds: “This partnership with Valentis Health, demonstrates the role technology can play to bridge the gap of people, physicians and health systems, enabling patients to stay at home and communicate with doctors. Specifically, the digitisation 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.”
