E-Paper
Government extends C-DAC e-Sanjeevani OPD platform to rural areas: Ludhiana civil surgeon
The platform connects citizens with a network of specialist doctors over video conferencing to obtain medical treatment and advice for common health-related issues from home
The Punjab government has extended the e-Sanjeevani–Online OPD (doctor to patient) programme, an integrated telemedicine solution developed by C-DAC, Mohali, to cover rural areas and isolated community pockets as well. The aim is to ensure uninterrupted health services to the public in Punjab at their doorsteps in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Civil surgeon Dr Rajesh Kumar Bagga said, “Punjab health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu has directed the platform to extend its specialised healthcare services to the masses in rural areas and isolated community pockets as well.”
He said e-Sanjeevani provides a platform for citizens to connect with a network of specialist doctors over video conferencing and obtain medical treatment and advice for common health-related issues from home.
Dr Bagga said, “Besides telemedicine services in health and wellness centres, the health & family welfare department, with active support from the governance reforms and public grievances departments, has also implemented this programme across the state.”
The salient features of e-Sanjeevani OPD include patient registration, token generation, queue management, audio-video consultation with a doctor, e-prescription, SMS/email notifications, services of the state’s doctors (from the department of health & family welfare), free service, fully configurable (number of daily slots, doctors/clinics, waiting room slots, consultation time limits, etc).
The application also has an advanced degree of security against unwanted elements.
Dr Bagga added, “To keep the operations smoother at the district level, the department of governance reforms and public grievances has deputed district technical coordinators (DTCs) or district e-governance coordinators (DeGCs) from each district to assist the teams of doctors at the district level.”
He said doctors in Punjab have been using the e-Sanjeevani (doctor to doctor) system for over a decade now, hence they would not take much time to adopt the e-Sanjeevani platform as well.
The platform has an extremely user-friendly interface, which facilitates both tech-savvy and relatively novice doctors/users in the rural and urban environment to access the application, Dr Bagga said.
He said to avail the benefits of “e-sanjeevani-opd”, a patient/person should have a computer, laptop or tablet (tab) along with a separate or inbuilt webcam, microphone, speakers and access to a 2mbps or faster internet connection (LAN/WiFi).
