E-Medical Consultation for diagnosis and treatment of hypertension in pregnancy: An opportunity to achieve the 5th millennium development goal in Kenya

Abstract

This study sought to establish the challenges that the Reproductive Health Division (High Risk Pregnancy Clinic) at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital based in Eldoret city, one of the two referral hospitals in Kenya, faces in adopting e-medical consultation as a way of improving maternal healthcare for patients with hypertension in pregnancy and reducing maternal deaths. In this paper, an outline of the strategies and pillars that the Clinic needs to adopt to embrace the use of e-medical consultation for the diagnosis, treatment and management of hypertension in pregnancy is presented. The survey conducted established that the division is still lagging behind and has not adopted the use of e-health, especially in the consultation sessions between the doctors and patients. The outlined strategies when implemented will help steer the Reproductive Health Division (High Risk Pregnancy Clinic) towards making healthcare services available in an efficient and effective way to expectant women with the condition. The model could be adopted to extend the same to less endowed areas around the globe, where specialist: patient ratio is low.