Dr. Abdul Hamid, General Manager, Primary Care at the North Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA) said the Authority has introduced a telemedicine service at its health care facilities.
Dr. Hamid said when the pandemic began, the Authority realised that clinics were not operating as they should and that patients could not get their medication.
He then discussed how the service works.
Dr. Hamid said the renewal of prescriptions were done automatically, adding that relatives could have received medications on behalf of patients.
Medications were also prepackaged to cut down on wait times at the health facilities.
However, if the patient needed further assessment, they would be required to visit a health centre in the event they needed, for example, blood tests, to ensure that the patient was not readmitted to the hospital for a decompensated comorbid condition.
He said over the past five, the NCRHA has treated over 5,000 patients with the telemedicine service.
In terms of the future of the service, Dr. Hamid said it will become a part of the landscape in the healthcare system in Trinidad and Tobago.
He said there will be more self-monitoring of patients as some services, such as taking blood pressure readings, could be done at home.
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