This day kicked off early with some exercise thanks to the little pact we made where one had to sit up from sleep as soon as the other called their name .We took the road instead of the steps up the hill to reach the temple on top. The temple was a usual one but the view on the way was a refreshing one. On the way back we got some yummy dosas that we were told about earlier.
It was my friend's turn to go to the PHC downhill, so I went to the OPD at the hospital as usual. A man was brought that day who was too weak to even walk with a history of severe headache and vomiting. Since his BP was on the lower side, we started some fluids and took a detailed history. He was operated a year or 2 ago at JSS for a tumour in his brain. Don't know the exact details of the tumour or the surgery as they had not carried any documents about the same. They said they were asked to follow up for a repeat MRI at the same hospital after 6 months but failed to do so due to financial reasons. So we thought that the current symptoms were probably due to raised ICT maybe due to a recurrence. Then we started figuring out where and how to refer them. For every option that we suggested they would have their reasons. Even when government hospitals were suggested they humbly said they'd need money to travel and stay in the hospital plus they would be prescribed medicines to be bought from outside which would again not be affordable.
That's when the medical officer there, Dr. Akhil, pointed out the potential of tele-medicine in such circumstances where the patient can't afford the travel charges and hospitalisation in a different city. What if we could have gotten the MRI done and took a neurosurgeon's opinion regarding the management through a phone call? Maybe in this particular case it would be tough to manage as the facilities were limited. But if he'd come earlier, probably the follow up could have been arranged in this way. Also there are plenty of simpler illnesses that can be taken care of at the PHC level or at a hospital like VGKK's with an extra help from an expert staying elsewhere. It's an era where all reports are just an email or what's app away. Infact the computer there even had an ECG app which could be used to send the ECGs taken to Narayana Hrudayala for opinion.
Basically the lesson learnt that day was that there are different ways of delivering health care. When a patient finds it difficult to approach health care facilities, there are plenty of ways health care can approach him/her. One being tele-medicine. The Hospital is already using another way through "mobile health unit" about which I'll be writing in a future post.
It was my friend's turn to go to the PHC downhill, so I went to the OPD at the hospital as usual. A man was brought that day who was too weak to even walk with a history of severe headache and vomiting. Since his BP was on the lower side, we started some fluids and took a detailed history. He was operated a year or 2 ago at JSS for a tumour in his brain. Don't know the exact details of the tumour or the surgery as they had not carried any documents about the same. They said they were asked to follow up for a repeat MRI at the same hospital after 6 months but failed to do so due to financial reasons. So we thought that the current symptoms were probably due to raised ICT maybe due to a recurrence. Then we started figuring out where and how to refer them. For every option that we suggested they would have their reasons. Even when government hospitals were suggested they humbly said they'd need money to travel and stay in the hospital plus they would be prescribed medicines to be bought from outside which would again not be affordable.
That's when the medical officer there, Dr. Akhil, pointed out the potential of tele-medicine in such circumstances where the patient can't afford the travel charges and hospitalisation in a different city. What if we could have gotten the MRI done and took a neurosurgeon's opinion regarding the management through a phone call? Maybe in this particular case it would be tough to manage as the facilities were limited. But if he'd come earlier, probably the follow up could have been arranged in this way. Also there are plenty of simpler illnesses that can be taken care of at the PHC level or at a hospital like VGKK's with an extra help from an expert staying elsewhere. It's an era where all reports are just an email or what's app away. Infact the computer there even had an ECG app which could be used to send the ECGs taken to Narayana Hrudayala for opinion.
Basically the lesson learnt that day was that there are different ways of delivering health care. When a patient finds it difficult to approach health care facilities, there are plenty of ways health care can approach him/her. One being tele-medicine. The Hospital is already using another way through "mobile health unit" about which I'll be writing in a future post.
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