a bridge to the clinic

today, i spent more time with mildred visiting the health clinic. what looks like a sparsely maintained operation from the outside is actually buzzing inside with patient queues and packed waiting rooms. there is a fully stocked ARV clinic in the back that administers tests for HIV and TB, as well as various immunizations for flu and other viral diseases. the clinic is mostly run by trained nurses with supplemental weekly visits from a certified doctor.

mildred and i spent most of the day following up on our conversation about exploring new ways to improve the state of home-based care and how the possibility of remote health monitoring systems may have an immediate and significant impact on chronic disease patients who suffer from diabetes, hypertension, and other conditions that swallow up resources at the clinic that could otherwise be better served for more urgent cases. the need to address this problem is clear and every clinician who understood the impact has given me personal requests to quickly bring back more information. there is a lot of work for me to do on this end, and i hope to bring some capacity to this effort. in honesty, i didn’t expect to receive such a high level of interest. but i am quickly realizing that there may be no better time than right now to quickly mobilize the right resources and initiate a plan of action.