M-Tiba is Connecting Kenyans to Clinics and Health Care Funders
Over the years, Kenya has faced quite a lot of difficulties when it comes to Health care, it remains till date one of the most challenging issues for Kenyans. M-Tiba was founded by PharmAccess Foundation, M-Pesa pioneer Safaricom and Kenyan Company; Carepay in June 2016 as a mobile health platform to encourage inclusive healthcare.
The M-Tiba platform provides access to better healthcare facilities by connecting people directly to health care payers and clinics through a health wallet on their mobile phone. It enables people to receive funds, to save and to pray for medical treatment at clinics.
Health care is a complex system, such that most patients may not be able to afford the cost of curing or managing a particular ailment due to the fact that access to healthcare services is limited. In the same vein, healthcare payers such as governments or private donors find it difficult to reach those who are in need.
However, the recent rise of mobile technology has provided a considerable solution to the above. With its unprecedented potential, people are now been connected to health care providers at very low marginal costs. It is available to any Kenyan to sign up for the mobile health wallet on a simple mobile phone and add any dependent to their wallet, whether friends or family. Allowing them to visit clinics connected to the platform where and when they want, based on their healthcare needs.
Clinics can also register healthcare claims and bill their patients on a tablet that is connected to the mobile platform, and receive claims payments quickly. The collected data allows clinics to track the patients, provide disease management and monitor the quality of healthcare services as well as their financial income.
Also, it is advantageous to both private funders and the governments, because the platform increases the impact of available funds. The data provides transparent insights in healthcare needs and costs, the deposits of funds can be done directly in mobile health wallets at low costs and varying healthcare financing streams can be unified.
