One of the assumptions here is that people are taking up doctors' time with "small things". I have no conclusive data, but, from the people I have seen at clinics/hospitals in Kenya, I doubt it; I suspect that the typical Mwafrika goes to the doctor only when he or she feels pretty bad. Typically, a doctor's visit in Africa will end up with some prescription, some injections or other medicine given, admission to hospital, etc. It's hard to see any of that happening on the basis of a short phone conversation.
Another questionable assumption is that if a doctor spends 10 minutes of time talking on the phone, then he or she miraculously gains 10 minutes elsewhere. Not so. In terms of the doctor's time, there is no difference in spending 10 minutes on the phone or 10 minutes in person. In fact, given the shortage of doctors in Kenya, it's not hard to imagine a situation where a doctor could get tied up for the entire day just doing these phone chats. So the idea that this would miraculously free up a doctor's time is questionable. (The matter of a patient having to travel and wait to be attended to is a different one.)
The majority of people who go to see a doctor are not necessarily suffering from a life-threatening condition. And the implied assumption that non-life-threatening conditions can be dealt with by phone is a questionable one; even such cases require proper diagnosis, with a proper cause of action recommended. What sorts of conditions are amenable to treatment-by-phone?
Why should I waste time to go and visit the hospital..endure 5hrs on the queue..before going see a doctor for less than 10mins...and then doctors direct you to go XYZ test.
Because the doctor may need to conduct a proper examination in order to know what test to recommend. And here it is important to keep in mind that patients might not understand their symptoms, might not describe them accurately, etc.
The future for me is something like this..make phone call to the doctor......doctor redirects you to agents of nurses/labs technicians/pharmacist in every village.. for more test or for drugs..tests are emailed...you have another talk with doctor..and you head to pharmacist or hospitalizations
Kenya is a long way from having such personnel in every village---right now over 50% of all doctors in Kenya practice in Nairobi---and perhaps that should be the goal before technological gimmicks.
I don't see a situation where doctors will willy-nilly write (non-renewal) prescriptions for drugs or recommend hospitalizations without actually examining the patient. In a place like Kenya, where people are always willing to cut corners, it is certainly possible, but the practice of medicine will---for fairly obvious reasons---always be regulated, and no proper system of regulations or law will allow such a "cowboy" approach.
The time when folks got some physiological treatment after just seeing the doctor is over.
They are far from over. And when they do get "over", it is hard to envisage Africa as the "pioneer" in that regard; MPESA folks should not think that "sending medical advice" is similar to "sending money". Such futuristic outlooks would do well to consider the progress of "telemedicine" in places like the USA, which have the technology, the personnel, etc.
Another thing is that payments have to be made. Leaving aside the "mechanics" of the payment---presumably somebody is going to suggest MPESA for that---how many people will willing to pay for these phone conversations?
A much more serious issue on payments is in regard to insurance companies: it is doubtful that they will be prepared to pay for these phone chats. Setting aside the possibility of scams that would be inevitable in a place like Kenya, there are also legal aspects: what happens in a malpractice suit where the doctor has only given advice over the phone?
