Percept | January 2024
The emergence of telehealth services in the South African healthcare sector was not without its share of challenges. Besides the expected obstacles of poor data integrity, limited infrastructure and varying levels of digital literacy, both practitioners and regulatory bodies remained cautious that the risks could potentially outweigh the benefits. It was only when the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic – and the resultant need to decongest clinics – created an entry point for telemedicine as a remote patient management strategy, that the utility and benefits of telehealth became evident.
We asked two public sector doctors, Dr N and Dr K, to reflect on their respective journeys, and distill their insights into what made telemedicine such an effective tool in supporting patients living with chronic conditions like diabetes. Both doctors were closely involved with early diabetes-focused telehealth initiatives, which had profound impact on patients’ ability to control their blood sugar levels.
Dr N is an experienced physician and co-creator of the VECTOR project, which focused on identifying and follow-up of diabetics who had contracted COVID-19 and/or were at high risk during COVID-19 peak periods. Dr K is a General Practitioner who spent two years as part of the VECTOR project, before she joined the PROTECTOR initiative, to focus on providing routine primary healthcare to at-risk diabetic patients who were struggling to control their sugar levels.
Read the Primary Healthcare (PHC) vignette on “Breaking barriers: the doctor’s perspective on the impact of telehealth” below.