Patients in rural health facilities could increasingly access specialist medical expertise without travelling to urban centres following the launch of a new digital ward-round platform by Chil Group.
The E-Ward Round Platform will connect doctors and nurses in rural facilities with specialists based in urban medical centres through virtual multidisciplinary ward rounds, allowing patients receiving inpatient care to be assessed remotely.
Chil Group said the platform is expected to be deployed across nearly 400 health facilities that work with the company.
The move targets a persistent challenge in rural healthcare, where health facilities often have inpatient capacity but lack specialised professionals such as cardiologists, neurologists and intensivists.
According to Chil Group, 67% of its partner facilities have inpatient capacity, representing more than 260 medical wards.
Dr Shamim Nabuuma Kaliisa, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Chil Group, said digital technology could help overcome geographical barriers to specialised healthcare.
“Patients should not have to travel hundreds of kilometers to access specialized medical care when technology can bring that expertise directly to them,” she said.
The platform is intended to enable specialists to participate in patient management remotely, working alongside local doctors and nurses rather than requiring patients to be transferred to urban facilities.
The launch marks an expansion of Chil Group’s digital health operations from outpatient services into inpatient care.
Kaliisa said the company had spent the past six years developing B2B telemedicine solutions that have mainly focused on outpatient services.
“The E-Ward Round Platform represents the next step in our mission to make quality healthcare more accessible across Africa,” she said.
The platform is integrated with medical devices that enable specialists participating remotely to access real-time patient information during virtual ward rounds.
Clinicians can review vital signs, diagnostic data and digital medical records while working with medical teams at the patient’s location to assess and manage cases.
The system also incorporates an artificial intelligence-powered triage function that continuously analyses patient information and vital-sign trends.
Chil Group said this capability can help medical teams identify and prioritise patients requiring urgent attention, potentially making ward rounds more efficient.
The platform brings multiple sources of clinical information into one system, allowing doctors to review vital signs, diagnostic images and digital health records during consultations.
This model could be particularly significant for facilities where general practitioners and nurses are responsible for inpatient care but specialist expertise is not readily available.
As healthcare providers increasingly shift patient information into digital systems, Chil Group said privacy and security had been considered in the design of the E-Ward Round Platform.
The company said it uses a zero-knowledge architecture in which each inpatient bed is assigned a dynamic cryptographic token. This allows clinical data to be processed without exposing patients’ identities.
Personal information is only made accessible to authorised clinicians when it is required for patient management, according to the company.
The platform therefore combines remote specialist support with connected medical devices, artificial intelligence and electronic medical records.
Chil Group said the combination could help reduce disparities in access to specialised healthcare between urban and rural areas.
The E-Ward Round Module is available for deployment across Chil Group’s partner health facilities with inpatient capacity.
Chil Group currently serves nearly 400 health facilities through its telemedicine and health infrastructure solutions.
The company also provides electronic medical record software at no cost and offers virtual care modules designed to help healthcare networks extend services to patients regardless of their location.
The launch comes as health providers increasingly explore digital technologies to connect patients and frontline healthcare workers with specialists who may not be physically available in their communities.
For rural facilities, the model could offer a way of bringing specialist expertise closer to patients while allowing local medical teams to remain directly involved in their care.
