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Wellness

Kena Health app makes affordable quality healthcare a reality for South Africans

The health app connects users to a team of qualified healthcare practitioners for advice, diagnoses, prescriptions, sick notes and referrals to specialists

Kena Health consists of nurses, doctors and mental health practitioners who are all ready to tend to your medical needs.
Kena Health consists of nurses, doctors and mental health practitioners who are all ready to tend to your medical needs.
Image: Supplied/Kena Health

Sooner or later, everyone gets sick. For those who can afford it, they visit a private GP or clinic to receive a diagnosis and the peace of mind that comes with quality treatment for everyday health concerns.

But what happens when that everyday quality care and advice is beyond their means? What happens to those who don’t have the time to wait in a clinic queue or don’t have the money to settle a doctor’s bill?

The all-too-common answer is that people delay medical care, or resort to inadequate home remedies or “Doctor Google” for advice. What if there was a better, more inclusive way to offer access to quality health care that is both fast and affordable? Though South Africans are progressively realising their constitutional right to health care, a mere 16% of the population has access to private medical schemes.

There lies the burden and opportunity to help South Africans through Kena Health, an easy solution where anyone can chat to a nurse, doctor or mental health professional directly from their smartphone. Kena Health is an app that connects users to a team of qualified healthcare practitioners for advice, diagnoses, prescriptions, sick notes, and even referrals to a specialist pathologist or another place of care. 

Kena Health’s mission is to make quality health care accessible by using a team-based approach which allocates the most suitable healthcare practitioners to each patient's unique needs, based on a shared data view of that patient. Family planning advice, gastritis, anaemia, allergies, urinary tract infections and common colds can be treated by an experienced and qualified nurse. Infections, hypertension and other chronic conditions perhaps need a prescription from a doctor. 

To use this innovative medical solution, users can download the Kena Health app and register in under two minutes. From there, they chat briefly with Linda, Kena’s digital assistant, who collects general information about their condition that forms part of the secure patient record. Patients don’t have to repeat their medical information and background throughout every step of the process.

No matter your income level or where you live, with Kena Health you’re invited to receive services that provide the care you need, all while making you feel cared for and reassured that you’re going to be OK
Saul Kornik. Kena Health’s founder and CEO

Kena then connects the user directly to a nurse or mental health professional to receive the medical care or advice they need at a fraction of what it would cost to visit a doctor — and for free at the outset. 

Consultations can be conducted via text, voice or video within the app, all tailored to keep data costs manageable. In instances where a doctor is required, the nurses can transfer the call for a seamless connection within the Kena team.

What makes Kena Health so successful is not just how efficient it is at information collection, but also how easy it is to use, and what a great experience of quality and affordable care the Kena team of professionals provide.

By leveraging technology and a team-based approach, the app brings down the cost of care while improving the patient’s health outcomes. The app further leverages technology in service of a human solution by generating scripts, sick notes and even referral letters, all seamlessly provided within the app.

As users get used to this new kind of health care, their first three consultations will be free, with subsequent consultations costing as little as R160 each. Kena Health’s services are initially available from 8am to 6pm on weekdays, and 8am to 2pm on Saturdays. 

“Kena Health’s goal is to improve access to quality care by lowering costs,” says Kena Health founder and CEO Saul Kornik. “By creating an app that focuses on team-based health care, Kena health professionals are able to do this, while improving the quality of health outcomes for each patient.

“Imagine, a whole team of nurses, doctors and mental health professionals looking after you. This means no matter your income level or where you live, with Kena Health you’re invited to receive services that provide the care you need, all while making you feel cared for and reassured that you’re going to be OK.” 

This article was paid for by Kena Health.