Editorial: Local hospitals should embrace specialised medical care initiative

Anyone seeking specialised treatment abroad usually goes through a rigorous process. Many go through agents of various international hospitals while others rely on friends and family abroad to get them appointments. Timely information about the right medical facility is key in handling cases that require specialised treatment abroad. Failure for a patient to identify the right facility within the required time can lessen chances of total healing or survival for the patient. Managing specialised treatment begins with ensuring a professional referral process that ensures timely identification of the right health facility, whether locally or internationally. Therefore the introduction of an online medical booking and travel platform by a local startup, Infinite Health International (iHi) Ltd, is a timely boost in efforts to ease access to specialised medical care. The new service is a timely solution to a common challenge where patients often lack adequate information on where to access the best healthcare at affordable prices, especially when they are diagnosed with complex cases. Healthcare is expensive and patients need to make informed choices of where they should spend their money. With a network of over 100 specialised healthcare providers across the world, the firm provides a huge opportunity for local hospitals to tap into the potential that this platform offers. This would spur Rwanda’s medical tourism ambitions as patients from across the world could get specialised care in local facilities that have been accredited. Already, Dr Agarwal Eye Hospital has been accredited to the platform while others like King Faisal Hospital, Kigali and Rwanda Military Hospital, Kanombe could soon be added to the platform after completion of ongoing upgrades. If all key stakeholders in the health sector collectively work together, it will not be hard to achieve Rwanda’s strategic plan of becoming a medical tourism destination.

Opinions

Editorial: Local hospitals should embrace specialised medical care initiative