Doctors employ tele-technology to treat patient

A historic inter-hospital telephone conference was held between three public hospitals to allow medical specialists to discuss an X-ray image of a patient.

President Uhuru Kenyatta, Kericho Governor Paul Chepkwony and his Kitui counterpart Julius Malombe listened in as the radiology experts analysed the chest X-ray of a patient admitted in Kericho District Hospital on June 8.

Using the new tele-radiology technology, doctors at the Kericho-based hospital, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Uasin Gishu County and Mwingi District Hospital in Kitui could simultaneously view the image on computer screens, and give their professional interpretation on the disease afflicting Mr Sammy Kirui.

The call came through at 3.55pm from Mwingi - where President Kenyatta and Governor Malombe were - and within two minutes after displaying the image doctors concluded that the 42-year-old patient was suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis.

Mr Chepkwony followed the proceedings at the Kericho hospital, where radiographer and sonographer Lily Sawe gave the medical history of the patient to the doctors in the call.

“For one minute, I thought I was in America!” Mr Chepkwony exclaimed, evoking laughter from the other leaders in the teleconference.

“The new imaging equipment has been very useful. We have stopped printing the X-ray results in film and we now give it to our clients in compact discs (CDs). Everything has gone digital, and doctors can share information in real time as well," he observed.

President Kenyatta responded by saying that he was happy with the way in which the Shared Medical Equipment programme had been rolled out, despite being initially opposed by governors who claimed they had not been consulted.

“This has been made possible because of the co-operation that we have. I am happy that the system is useful,” Mr Kenyatta said.

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Governor Chepkwony said Kericho District Hospital had received, among other equipment, a mammogram machine, state-of-the-art imaging equipment and an orthopantomogram (OPG) for dental X-ray, adding that the hospital was making more income as a result of increased efficiency.

He noted that the number of patients who get imaging services had more than doubled to between 80 to 100 daily, up from 40 to 60.

Income made from the radiology department has increased to almost Sh1 million, he noted.

“Even private hospitals in Kericho and the neighbouring counties refer their patients to us, and we are expecting the numbers to rise even further.”

Dr Sawe, however, said that the price of X-ray had been increased marginally by Sh100 to cater for the development of the radiologists report.

She said the expert radiologists at the hospital were based at the MTRH and the Ministry of Health headquarters and Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital in Nairobi.