UCH, OHEALTH sign first-of-its-kind agreement on digital medicine

The University College Hospital (UCH) and Online Health Company, OHEALTH, in Ibadan, have signed a first-of-its-kind agreement on telemedicine.

Under this agreement, OHEALTH will use its software platform to enhance services delivery at the Private Suites of the hospital.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of OHEALTH, Dr. Temitope Farombi, the scope of the partnership is to help the Private Suites with patients’ information management, virtual consultation, tele-medicine and a payment collection system. The agreement is for a period of five years which is renewable and expandable.

Farombi stated that OHEALTH would connect all the service points, using its software platform. It would be recalled that OHEALTH recently launched Electronic Medical Record (EMR) – a software meant to digitalise medical records of patients.

With this partnership, OHEALTH would use its EMR for registration, consultation, billing,providing laboratory as well as nursing services and in-house management of the facilities when patients are on admission.

Farombi, who described the agreement as a milestone, said everything within the system is what OHEALTH is digitalising.

The CEO said that OHEALTH would be bringing UCH Private suites to the community and patients’ doorsteps. She disclosed that everyone with OHEALTH mobile or web app can do their booking without physically coming to UCH.

The London-trained doctor enthused: “This is a milestone for OHEALTH and for the UCH in the sense that someone indigenous to UCH is creating solutions to the premier teaching hospital, using technology. It is very emotional for me because this is my alma mater. Coming to this stage that we are able to create solutions for them is a thing of joy.

“We are starting with Private Suites and the scope of our involvement is to help with patients’ information management, virtual consultation, tele-medicine and the payment collection system.

“We will connect all the service points, using our software platform from registration to consultation, billing, pharmacy, providing laboratory,as well as nursing services and even to in-house hospital management when patients are on admission.

” OHEALTH is digitalising everything within the system. The beauty of it is that we are bringing UCH Private Suites to the community. Everyone with OHEALTH mobile or web app can do their booking without physically coming to UCH. You can opt for physical consultation or our virtual consultation. And they can pay on their wallet system without having to be looking for where to pay. That makes it easy.

“Patients can schedule and reschedule their appointment if they are not physically available to come. So, we are bringing UCH to people’s hands. For so many people, they don’t know how to communicate or connect to the UCH. All you just need to know is to have your OHEALTH App or access OHEALTH web and do your booking and continue to have your communication with UCH’’.

Speaking during the signing of the agreement, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of UCH, Prof. Jesse Abiodun Otegbayo,said the agreement was first-of-its-kind.

Prof. Otegbayo said: “At the University College Hospital, this is the first time we are signing an MOU that has a kind of total packages – electronic medical record, e-consultation, tele-health- all combined which we are going to be using for our Private Suites.

“This will make seamless provision for consultation, and retrieval of information. It is paperless. That will save cost,and make us go digital, which is the trend now in our healthcare services”.

The professor therefore urged OHEALTH to justify the confidence repose in it and live up to expectations.

The CMD said: “They should not fail us. We have read about their capability, what they have been doing in terms of tele-health. They have a track record which we are satisfied with”.

Speaking on telemedicine, the CMD said digitalisation of healthcare is possible, saying if it has been achieved in other countries, it is achievable in Nigeria. He called for determination and the deployment of appropriate resources to achieve digitalisation of healthcare in Nigeria.

He said: “Digitalisation of healthcare is achievable. That is where the world is going. In many advanced countries, you don’t see them recorded on any paper. If it could be done in other places, it can be done in Nigeria. Nigeria has to determine that it wants to do it. Without determination, there won’t be efforts to push it. After that, you deploy your resources and the human capital. Three, you need equipment which I believe OHEALTH has already acquired. Then, you get people that will run the system with passion. I don’t want this to fail. We are going to do whatever we can to make sure it runs through the tenet of the MOU that we signed”.

END