Chief Minister (CM) Gilgit Baltistan, Hafiz Hafeez ur Rehman inaugurates `Sehat Call’, the first telehealth service for Gilgit Baltistan. Chief Operating Officer PISE, Hassan Ali Shah briefed CM about Sehat Call, how it will help people on only a single phone call.
Telehealth will help people with minor problems of health and for their regular follow up. The chief minister appreciates the project and assures complete support from GB government. He asked the public to benefit from this free service and avoid unnecessary visits to the Hospital.
He also lauded the services of doctors and psychologists rendering voluntary services under the platform of Sehat Call. This service was developed by the Pakistan Innovation Summit for Education team in collaboration with Health Department GB, AKRSP, and Young Doctors Association of Gilgit Baltistan.
Telehealth is the distribution of health-related services and information via electronic information and telecommunication technologies. It allows long-distance patient and clinician contact, care, advice, reminders, education, intervention, monitoring, and remote admissions.
When rural settings, lack of transport, a lack of mobility, decreased funding, or a lack of staff restricts access to care, telehealth may bridge the gap as well as provider distance-learning; meetings, supervision, and presentations between practitioners; online information and health data management and healthcare system integration.
Telehealth could include two clinicians discussing a case over video conference; a robotic surgery occurring through remote access; physical therapy done via digital monitoring instruments, live feed and application combinations; tests being forwarded between facilities for interpretation by a higher specialist; home monitoring through continuous sending of patient health data; client to practitioner online conference; or even videophone interpretation during a consult.