Remote Healthcare Assistance with Smart Glasses
by Iristick
THE CHALLENGE
With less than one physician for every 10,000 people in DRC, and even fewer in conflict-affected areas, rural health facilities are left without sufficient staff to provide essential quality health care. The dearth of skilled medical staff and the rapid spread of epidemics due to inaccurate field diagnoses lead to a high maternal mortality rate. As medical expertise is typically concentrated in urban areas, more complex rural cases may require referrals involving lengthy travel for treatment. Access to medical staff training and education is also limited in rural areas, so staff competencies may be insufficient to launch a proper response when new epidemic diseases and unforeseen medical challenges emerge.
THE SOLUTION
Given the shortage of skilled medical staff in DRC’s rural, conflict-affected regions, Iristick sought to connect frontline rural health providers with needed medical expertise that would otherwise be out-of-reach in these remote clinical settings. Iristick designed and implemented smart glasses as a means of remotely connecting frontline healthcare workers in three Rural Health Centres (RHCs) in Kingandu, DRC with medical experts at Kingandu’s district hospital. This was complemented by improvements in referral processes and emergency transportation of patients from hard-to-reach rural areas using a motorbike (moto) ambulance service. Through a total of 629 successful calls, rural health clinic staff were effectively connected with doctors at the district hospital which provided live patient support and remote training on the use of several rapid diagnostic tests for early detection of common diseases. The RHCs that implemented the smart glasses also saw steady increases of up to 60% in their monthly revenues due to increased patients. Other reported benefits of the project included empowerment of healthcare staff, improved diagnostic services and healthcare decision-making, strengthened referrals to district hospitals (and a reduction in unnecessary referrals), and increased community trust in local healthcare providers.
