Revolutionary advances in Telehealth have led to improved access for patients seeking quality health care services, especially in marginalised, geographically challenged regions, including those which regularly experience harsh weather conditions.

Patients in these areas are forced to bear a financial burden for travel, food, and lodging expenses when travelling to healthcare facilities many miles away, in order to seek diagnostic services and treatment. Telemedicine provides convenient access to a wide range of health services, while reducing barriers of distance and time, thus making healthcare affordable by reducing the associated financial burden.

To enable patients to seek quality healthcare services and receive teleconsultations in real-time, AKDN dHRC has developed the VirtualDoc mobile application, a patient-centered platform, which provides access to specialists via teleconsultations. The app generates and manages patient specific records related to prescriptions, radiology and laboratory tests, and treatment plans. The application also allows teleconsultations to be conducted through data services available on mobile phones, instead of computer-based teleconsultations, which require fixed satellite or fibre optic connections.

Plans are now in place to initiate teleclinics in the coming months at Aga Khan Health Service facilities for patients residing in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral.