MedTrack has emerged as a champion for innovation in Ghana’s healthcare sector. Co-founded by tech enthusiasts and visionaries, MedTrack aims to reshape healthcare delivery by creating a paperless ecosystem that seamlessly connects clients, healthcare providers, and facilities nationwide.
Omar Seidu, the co-founder and Partnership Director at MedTrack, reflects on the pivotal moment for MedTrack, a company that evolved from its founders’ passion for design and design thinking. In 2021, Dr Justice Croffie, a Ghanaian-American medical doctor and MedTrack co-founder, expressed deep concerns about digital transformation in Ghana’s healthcare system—particularly in his diagnostic centre. Initially, the team’s goal was to digitize the entire workflow of Dr. Croffie’s facility. However, they soon realized that the digitization of a single centre was just one piece of a much larger issue.
Despite their success at the diagnostic centre, the team soon encountered a significant obstacle: the persistent use of paper in interconnected healthcare facilities. “We realized that you were receiving inflows of patients from other facilities with paper, and when they are leaving, they need to take that paper to other facilities,” said Omar.
This fragmentation highlighted the need for a comprehensive solution to integrate various healthcare system components.
Omar and his team designed MedTrack to digitize the entire healthcare ecosystem. It creates a digital trail of all medical interactions between doctors and external health facilities such as pharmacies and diagnostic centres.
However, the journey came with unforeseen challenges, such as underestimating the resistance to adopting digital systems within the healthcare industry.
Omar explained, “Whenever you have a diagnosis or a clinical note, and you write it down in your notebook, you expect that it is only privy to you. But they are uncomfortable realizing those notes will be privy to other healthcare providers.” Additionally, the ease and familiarity of scribbling notes on paper and concerns about privacy and accessibility posed significant barriers despite the efficiency and competitive pricing offered by digital solutions like MedTrack.
MedTrack joined the HealthTech Hub Africa (HTHA) accelerator program to navigate these challenges and scale their impact. “This was something we strongly aligned with in terms of the networking and interaction between public healthcare providers and health technology providers across the sub-region, across Africa,” Omar said.
The HealthTech Hub Africa accelerator program has provided MedTrack with technical assistance, networking opportunities, financial backing, and other invaluable support, including US$50,000 to implement their proposal in Ghana through the HealthTech Hub Africa Innovation Challenge 2024.
Partnerships formed through HealthTech Hub Africa have opened doors for MedTrack, facilitating conversations with key stakeholders like MTN Ghana. Omar shared their aspirations: “We’re hoping to close our conversation with them regarding zero-rating our platform to allow public healthcare facilities using our system [to] not incur data costs when processing clinical records through the MTN network.”
Looking ahead, MedTrack is focused on expanding its reach and enhancing its services, including ensuring that it operates smoothly across health facilities. “We hope that by the end of the innovation challenge, we’ll be able to meet all the targets that we set because we are hoping to expand to at least five more healthcare facilities within our pilot area,” said Omar.
Omar advises fellow startups, “Try as much as possible to open up to the HealthTech Hub Africa team because you can only get enough assistance or contextual assistance if the team can understand thoroughly what your strengths are, what your weaknesses are, and what your needs are.”
