Kenyans in the diaspora can now scrutinize the quality of healthcare their kin back in Kenya get and foot the bill via a newly launched mobile app, Diaspocare.
Diaspocare according to Peter Kamunyu, a former banker who is now the app’s business development manager acts as the link between Kenyans in the diaspora and their relatives who need quality health care.
In an article by Business Daily, Kamunyu said that Kenyans in the diaspora often have a hard time in securing quality healthcare for their aged parents.
“We have relatives living in remote areas that access poor healthcare and buy substandard or fake drugs from local chemists without knowing. This means their health condition worsens leading to more costly medical procedures being performed,” said Kamunyu.
With Diaspocare, Kenyans in the Diaspora can get realtime “reports on health facilities their relatives visit as well as the type of drugs dispensed.”
The app also offers a comprehensive billing report which will alleviate wrong usage of monies sent purposely for health purposes. It also gives realtime location of a health facility near the locality.
“Old people rely on younger relatives for social help and this exposes them risk of money being stolen or being denied a chance to receive prompt healthcare services,” he said.
“In rural areas, public and private clinics are manned by nurses who have no ability to prescribe or treat patients and this is a serious trend that condemns chronically ill patients to more suffering and even death,” he adds.
Once an invoice is generated, Kenyans in the diaspora can pay through a provided payment model to the service provider – the lab, pharmacy or health facility.
Before Diaspocare App launch in Kenya, it was piloted in Nigeria where it proved to work and was then rolled out in Ghana.
It works on a subscription basis where select pharmacies, laboratories and hospitals/clinics pay a premium as a subscription.
Diaspocare Kenya has enlisted Goodlife and Krishna pharmacies as its partners together with Equity Afia Centres, individual doctors as well as Equity Group that are the new company’s payment gateway.
Amaan Khalfan, Goodlife CEO said that “We have 63 outlets across Kenya and Uganda which enable us to deliver drugs to beneficiaries. Through the partnership, we are able to directly monitor a patient’s health and advise them accordingly.”
