Putting patients at the center of health care
The traditional way of providing healthcare services in no longer sufficient to meet demand let alone to provide quality healthcare. With the shortage of doctors in Ireland and elsewhere in the world, the fast increasing incidence of chronic diseases and the early incidence of those diseases means that the healthcare system is overwhelmed with work. There is so much demand for healthcare that the medical professionals and the infrastructure cannot cope with the demand.
Going to the hospital with a sick loved one is a very frustrating experience because the sick person has to wait in a queue. Because of high demand the patient has to go through the slow process of lab tests and X-rays and other diagnostics before finally getting treatment. Treatment might amount to a prescription and out the patient goes to buy medication to make way for another patient. The patient is likely to go back to the hospital when things get worse while taking medications at home and at times the patient needs hospitalisation.
One weakness of the healthcare system as it is today is the lack of centralised health records. A patient discharged from the hospital will still need care after hospitalization. After-hospital care may mean going to the nearest primary care physician who, unfortunately, may not have the patient’s health records. Sometimes hospitals are reluctant to share those records with the primary care givers. Moving from one city to another or one state to another means that there are no health records at the new primary care physician and a family has to create new files after every move. Over the course of a lifetime people move many times even at international level, leaving health records all over the world. As a result it is rare for people to have a comprehensive medical record. This can be a huge disadvantage in emergency situations where the patient may not be able to communicate his/her medical history and doctors have to give treatment completely unaware of any underlying health conditions.
The system is definitely not patient-centered. It is as if the patient is incidental in the system yet the system exists because people need medical care. The home caregivers, who happen to be women in most cases, do not have access to any family members’ health records and they have to rely on memory when giving health history to new primary care givers. This is what Jinga Life is trying to address. The Jinga can join Jinga Life on a free trial basis and create every family member’s medical record. Imagine, health records can be a click away! Jinga, you can actually have control of your health.
At the center of the confusion and inefficiency of the current healthcare system lies the woman.
In 92% of families the female is the key gate-keeper & decision maker when it comes to the health and wellbeing of the family.
She is the one who makes decisions on how to feed her family to keep everyone healthy.
She nurses everyone from her husband to her children, and in some cases the grandparents when they are sick.
She takes family members to the doctor or the hospital when they need attention. Many times she is forced to negotiate the many hospital departments, taking her loved ones for X-rays, scans, laboratory tests, and back to the caregivers for treatment.
She is the one who buys and administers medicines most of the time and she has to change dressings and feed the sick loved ones at home.
She is “the JINGA”, the fiercest defender & protector of her loved ones. Her problems are not appreciated. No one listens to her though she is the one who knows everything about everyone’s health.
Every family woman would appreciate a service which helps her to compile her family medical history in one place and make healthcare easier and more affordable for her.
