KAMPALA — Chil Group has launched an E-Ward Round Platform designed to connect patients admitted at rural health facilities with specialist doctors based in major urban medical centres.
The digital health platform enables urban-based doctors and multidisciplinary specialists to conduct virtual ward rounds alongside rural healthcare teams in real time, allowing patients to receive specialist input without travelling long distances to major hospitals.
Chil Group said the platform is being rolled out across its network of nearly 400 partner health facilities, with the initial focus on facilities offering inpatient services.
According to the company, 67 per cent of its partner facilities have inpatient capacity, representing more than 260 medical wards. However, many facilities outside major urban centres continue to face shortages of specialists such as cardiologists, neurologists and intensivists.
The E-Ward Round Platform is integrated with Chil Group’s electronic medical records (EMR) system, creating a digital link between patients, local healthcare teams and specialists working from urban centres.
“Patients should not have to travel hundreds of kilometres to access specialised medical care when technology can bring that expertise directly to them,” said Dr Shamim Nabuuma Kaliisa, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Chil Group.
“For the past six years, our B2B telemedicine solutions have focused primarily on outpatient services, but we recognise that inpatient care requires an equally strong digital bridge. The E-Ward Round Platform represents the next step in our mission to make quality healthcare more accessible across Africa,” she said.
Real-time patient monitoring
The platform is designed to connect with multiple medical devices, allowing specialists participating remotely to access real-time patient information, including vital signs and diagnostic data, while working alongside doctors and nurses at the patient’s bedside.
Healthcare teams can also access digital patient records during virtual ward rounds, allowing specialists to review a patient’s clinical history alongside current medical information.
Chil Group said the system incorporates an artificial intelligence-powered triage model that continuously analyses patient data and vital-sign trends.
The technology is intended to help healthcare teams identify and prioritise patients who may require urgent attention, particularly during busy ward rounds.
The company said the AI system is designed to support clinical decision-making rather than replace doctors and other healthcare professionals.
Protecting patient information
Chil Group said data privacy and security were built into the platform’s architecture.
The system uses what the company describes as a zero-knowledge architecture, with each inpatient bed assigned a dynamic cryptographic token. This allows clinical information to be processed securely without exposing patient identities during routine digital interactions.
Personal information remains restricted to authorised clinicians and can be accessed when necessary for patient management, according to the company.
Closing the specialist-care gap
The platform is intended to address one of the challenges facing healthcare systems in rural areas: limited access to specialised medical expertise.
Rather than transferring every patient requiring specialist attention to an urban hospital, rural clinical teams can consult specialists remotely while continuing to provide care locally where appropriate.
The approach could also allow specialists to support several facilities without having to be physically present at each location.
Chil Group said the E-Ward Round Platform builds on its existing B2B telemedicine infrastructure, which has primarily supported outpatient services.
The expansion into inpatient care means the company is combining virtual specialist consultations with digital medical records, connected medical devices and AI-assisted triage.
The company said the goal is to help health facilities make faster and better-informed clinical decisions while reducing the effect of geographical location on access to specialist care.
“The E-Ward Round Platform represents a significant expansion of our digital healthcare infrastructure from outpatient services into inpatient management,” the company said.
The module is now available for deployment across Chil Group’s partner health facilities with inpatient capacity.
Chil Group provides B2B telemedicine and health infrastructure solutions to nearly 400 health facilities. Its services include electronic medical records and virtual healthcare modules intended to support healthcare providers in delivering services across different locations.
The company said its model is based on providing EMR software at no cost while offering scalable digital healthcare modules that can be integrated into existing health facilities and networks.