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Centre’s telemedicine service crosses 1 million consultations
The service, eSanjeevani, was launched by the health ministry in April this year during the nationwide lockdown to manage Covid-19 outbreak
Union health ministry’s eSanjeevani telemedicine service crossed 1 million tele-consultations on Monday.
The ministry had begun online out patient department (OPD) consultations in April this year during the nationwide lockdown announced by the Centre in March to manage coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak in the country.
The platform is currently used by patients in at least 550 districts, with the volume of consultations per day increasing to around 14,000, according to the government data.
Telemedicine entails delivery of health services from a distance using internet and it not only extends the reach of health services but also improves quality of health services besides saving time and money.
“The roll out of eSanjeevani in India is supposedly the first of its kind of digital transformation in the delivery of health services at national scale by a developing country. During the Covid-19 pandemic, eSanjeevani not only brought about a huge digital transformation in the delivery of health services but had also boosted the digital health ecosystem in the country,” said health ministry in a statement.
The platform is serving in two streams in 28 states and Union Territories. The eSanjeevani Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centre (AB-HWC) enables doctor to doctor tele-consultations, and is being used at around 6,000 HWCs. These centres are being served by specialists and doctors in around 240 hubs which have been set up by states in district hospitals or medical colleges. At least 20,000 paramedics, doctors and specialists have been trained to use eSanjeevani AB-HWC.
The second stream eSanjeevani OPD is for providing remote health services to patients within the confines of their homes. It enables contactless, risk-free, and safe consultations between a doctor and a patient. It received a huge reception by both the patients and the doctors, and the Centre facilitated training of around 8,000 doctors who are on board on eSanjeevani OPD. On an average, around 1,500 doctors practise telemedicine daily in around 225 online OPDs, of which 190 are speciality OPDs and about 30 are general OPDs.
“Over 10% of the users of eSanjeevani are aged 60 and above. Close to around one-fourth of the total patients have used eSanjeevani more than once.This stands as a testimony to the fact that public has started preferring telemedicine over visiting hospital OPDs for consulting a doctor,” said the ministry statement.
Considering the inherent potential and social impact of this emergent digital modality of delivery of health services, the states have designed innovative applications around eSanjeevani OPD.
In Kerala, eSanjeevani OPD is being used for providing health services to the inmates of Palakkad District Jail, in Himachal Pradesh, it is being rolled out in old age homes. Quick adoption of eSanjeevani OPD services across the country has enabled launch of wide range of speciality and super-speciality OPDs including alternative medical systems such as Ayush and naturopathy.
Kerala is already setting up OPDs on eSanjeevani for providing services of Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram – district early intervention centres for its populace. Each of these 14 online OPDs has a team comprising a psychologist, special educator, speech therapist and a physiotherapist who collectively address common issues pertaining to child development and their future health.
Top 10 states with highest consultations through eSanjeevani and eSanjeevani OPD platforms are Tamil Nadu (319,507), Uttar Pradesh (268,889), Madhya Pradesh (70,838), Gujarat (63,601), Kerala (62,797), Himachal Pradesh (49,224), Andhra Pradesh (39,853), Karnataka (32,693), Uttarakhand (31,910), and Maharashtra (12,635).
