eSanjeevani OPD: A shot in the arm for health services

What more people could have asked for in the time of the pandemic when stepping out of the house is not advisable but the advice of a doctor could be required to resolve a pressing health issue. Hence eSanjeevani OPD has proved to be a boon for the people in need of dire medical assistance at their homes. Reasonably so, the National Telemedicine Service of the Union Health Ministry – eSanjeevani – has crossed another milestone by completing 6 million consultations through more than 375 online OPDs, where over 40,000 patients consult over 1600 doctors and specialists on a daily basis using this innovative digital medium to seek health services.

Currently, the National Telemedicine Service is operational in 31 States/Union Territories.

eSanjeevani instrumental in providing care during pandemic

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare conceptualised eSanjeevani – a doctor to doctor telemedicine platform in November 2019 for implementation at 1,55,000 Health and Wellness Centres under the Government of India’s Ayushman Bharat Scheme in a ‘Hub and Spoke’ model. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, as OPDs across the country were closed, the Union Health Ministry ensured a rapid development and roll-out of this initiative in collaboration with The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing in Mohali.

eSanjeevani AB-HWC – the doctor to doctor telemedicine platform has been implemented at around 20,000 Health and Wellness Centres as spokes and over 1800 hubs in around 30 States.

The Ministry of Defence also hosted a National OPD on eSanjeevani OPD, where over 100 veteran doctors and specialists – roped in by the Ministry of Defence, serve patients across the country.

40,000 patients benefit from eSanjeevani OPD daily

People in many states have been quick to recognise the benefits of eSanjeevani and this has led to an encouraging trend of widespread rapid adoption of this digital modality of seeking Health services. It has led to massive improvement in access to specialised health services, particularly in rural areas. Further, this service has come in handy for the patients in urban areas as well, especially during the second wave of the ongoing pandemic that has burdened the Healthcare services delivery system in the country.

In a short span of time, the Government of India’s National Telemedicine Service has started aiding the Indian healthcare delivery system by plugging the digital health divide that exists in urban and rural India. It is also addressing the shortage of doctors and specialists at ground level while reducing the burden on secondary and tertiary level hospitals. In line with the National Digital Health Mission, eSanjeevani is also boosting the digital health ecosystem in the country.

Leading 10 states in terms of adoption (number of consultations) of eSanjeevani are Andhra Pradesh (1219689), Tamil Nadu (1161987), Karnataka (1056447), Uttar Pradesh (952926), Gujarat (267482), Madhya Pradesh (264364), Bihar (192537), Maharashtra (177629), Kerala (173734) and Uttarakhand (134214).