[Kibera, an impoverished settlement in Nairobi]
[Belinda Adhiambo a user of Snark Health preparing breakfast and sitting on a sofa]
[Adhiambo using the app on her phone to book an appointment with a doctor]
[Smartphone screen showing app]
Belinda Adhiambo (interview): “Most of these insurance covers do not cover persons with disabilities because of our diversity. We have different needs. So the first time I tried the app was when I had some phantom pains and I realized that I was able to book an appointment and meet a doctor and I had a conversation with a doctor and he guided me on how to go on the phantom pain. For me it is an achievement because sometimes when I want to go to a hospital, for a phantom pain I need to have some money for consultation and everything. But with the app I only ask Dr Nick if I can see him through the app, if I can see him in his available hours and he was like yeah you can just come and we will sort that out with the app owners.”
[Adhiambo walking to the clinic on her prosthetic leg to see orthopaedic physician Dr Nick Were]
[Adhiambo walking into the doctors office]
[Doctor and patient talking]
[Were using the app on his phone]
[Doctor and patient talking]
[App on doctor’s phone]
[Adhiambo showing how she’s walking with her amputated leg]
Dr Nick Were (interview): “I have been using this application for about two years, and it has really changed the way I practice. I am now able to put my available times on the application and the patient on the other side is able to see the time. This has improved the time management such that the patient does not have to wait for too long and now I am also able to earn through the app.”
[Edwin Lubanga the founder of Snark, a mobile health app, putting doctors in touch with patients]
Edwin Lubanga (interview): “Snark is a platform that connects patients with doctors to narrow networks for diagnosis and treatment. Basically patients log into the platform using their android app, using their smartphone or they can use an SSD code if they do not have internet access to find a list of doctors and book appointments and consult them on the go.”
[Edwin Lubanga working in his office]
Edwin Lubanga (interview): “When a patient logs onto our platform he has two choices either to take part in our data monetization program or simply pay via M-PESA via cash and proceed to book a consultation. If they choose to be part of our data monetization, which again all our data is all anonymized, they will earn at least 33% or a third of the earnings from our data sale.”
[Edwin Lubanga working]
Edwin Lubanga (interview): “That is how over time patients are empowered. They are getting money in their wallet which they can afford to pay for the next doctor’s appointment. Whether they have insurance or they do not have insurance they have an opportunity to have money in their wallet which they can use to afford the next consultation.”
[Lubanga working]
Edwin Lubanga (interview): “Once it’s anonymised that means that we will never know, the encounter is just between the doctor and the patient and we cannot trace back to which particular patient was diagnosed with what. The algorithm is only picking out the information we are researching. So let’s say a data customer is searching for specific things like malaria patterns happening in a certain side of the country, then Snark is able to show all these analytics.”
[Austin Omune, Chief Executive and co-founder of Negus Med Limited]
Austin Omune (interview): “While working as a doctor we experience patients struggling to meet the payment needs so, of course there is a need for innovations to address this challenge and I think Snark Health puts us down that path in a way that healthcare data can be monetized and thus used to offer these vital services. And I believe there is a lot of room for growth. There is always of course controversy over healthcare data so it would have to be safeguarded which Snark Health may be able to provide by using various technologies such as blockchain encryption and also having an efficient way of storing this data and protecting it for every party involved.”
[Orthopaedic doctor consulting Adhiambo in his clinic]
This script was provided by The Associated Press.