National telemedicine initiative eSanjeevani completes 8 lakh consultations

The national telemedicine initiative eSanjeevani has completed eight lakh consultations, the Union Health ministry said on Friday.

The top ten states which have registered the highest consultations through eSanjeevani and eSanjeevani OPD platforms are Tamil Nadu (2,59,904), Uttar Pradesh (2,19,715), Kerala (58,000), Himachal Pradesh (46,647), Madhya Pradesh (43,045), Gujarat (41,765), Andhra Pradesh (35,217), Uttarakhand (26,819), Karnataka (23,008) and Maharashtra (9,741), the ministry said in a statement.

It said eSanjeevani's both variants of telemedicine -- doctor to doctor (eSanjeevani AB-HWC) and patient to doctor (eSanjeevani OPD) -- are consistently growing in terms of users on both sides -- patients or health workers on the one end and doctors on the other.

The Union Health Ministry launched the eSanjeevani AB-HWC in November 2019 and it is to be implemented at 1,55,000 Health and Wellness Centres under Ayushman Bharat Scheme in 'Hub and Spoke' model by December 2022.

"eSanjeevani AB-HWC is functional at over 4,700 Health and Wellness Centres and over 17,000 doctors and health workers have been trained on its use. eSanjeevani OPD, the second variant of this ambitious initiative, was rolled out on April 13, 2020 during the first lockdown when OPDs across the country were closed to prevent COVID-19 infections," it said.

The Union Health ministry said eSanjeevani is having a significant impact among the section of populace where the travel distance, time and cost have been barriers in seeking outpatient services.

"It has served as a viable and preferred option for consulting a doctor. So far 16 districts have registered more than 10,000 consultations and over 100 districts have registered more than 1,000 consultations," it said.

Over 7,500 doctors have been trained and on boarded to provide telemedicine services on over 220 online OPDs on eSanjeevani OPD, it added.

Over 100 telemedicine practitioners have completed more than 1,000 teleconsultations and a few of them have logged over 10,000 consultations, it said.

As regards to patients, over 20 per cent patients use eSanjeevani to consult with doctors more than once. As many of these are small districts, it reflects that eSanjeevani is having equal or more impact in smaller districts, the ministry said.