Teleconsultation: Acting as boon for India’s healthcare sector

1 Thumbnail- ‘E Sanjeevani’

Veteran defence doctors answering medical call of the nation

2 thumbnail- Telemedicine: Life saver for ‘home isolated’ patients

Title- Teleconsultation: Acting as boon for India’s healthcare sector

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You must have heard since childhood, a real friend is not one who just enjoys your happiness…rather it’s someone who stands still with you in difficult times. After the Health Ministry, The Armed Forces are showing their loyalty towards the nation. With the aim of reducing criticality of inadequate specialised medical manpower, veteran defence doctors have come forward answering the call of the nation through telemedicine.

What is telemedicine?

Telemedicine is a virtual service provided by doctors. It is a practice of consulting patients in situations when a patient is not physically present. It can be done through messaging, phone call, video call, emails and other virtual means.

e-Sanjeevani: Big win for India’s telemedicine sector

eSanjeevani is a flagship National Telemedicine Service of the Health Ministry which was initiated during the first National lockdown for providing contactless healthcare services.
It facilitates free online medical consultation to all citizens of India. It also generates online prescriptions for medicines. Earlier it was being used by non-covid patients but now it is being very helpful to reduce the load on doctors who are on COVID duty.

It’s been almost 14 months since the launch of eSanjeevani and it has already served more than 50 lakh patients in its journey.

User friendly portal also gives real time information of number of doctors present and the waiting time for each patient.

eSanjeevani’s Defence National OPD

On 26th April 2021, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat called on PM Modi. Purpose was to review the preparations of the Armed Forces to deal with the pandemic. CDS Rawat briefed PM Modi that all medical personnel from armed forces who retired earlier than two years have been requested to make their services available for tele-consultation through medical emergency help lines.

On 7th May 2021, ‘Ex-Defence OPD’ was launched. The OPD service was initially available for UP. With more defence doctors volunteering, service was further extended to Rajasthan and Uttarakhand. As of now, defence doctors have provided online consultation to more than 1,000 patients. Renamed as Defence National OPD, it is rolling out pan India since 14th May 2021. It can be accessed at www.esanjeevaniopd.in.

PM Modi calls for expansion of Telemedicine in rural areas

On 17th May 2021, PM Modi interacted with a Group of Doctors from across India to discuss COVID situation. Talking about the role of telemedicine in India’s Fight against COVID, PM Modi said it has played a big role for patients in home isolation. He also talked about the need for expansion of this service in rural areas as well. PM Modi appreciated the fact that some doctors are forming teams and providing telemedicine service in villages and appealed to doctors across the states to form similar teams, train final year MBBS students and MBBS interns, and work towards ensuring that all tehsils and districts of India have telemedicine service.

How to register yourself for consultation?

Go to https://esanjeevaniopd.in/Register

Register yourself as a patient by providing mobile number and the state

OTP will be sent to verify the number

You’ll see an option of generating token after registering

Login once you get notification as per the token generated

Wait for your turn to consult a doctor

Post consultation, ePrescription can be easily downloaded

By following these easy steps and waiting for less than 8 minutes, you can get free consultation in the safe environment of your home and can avoid unnecessary visits to hospitals. Patients residing in a particular State will get connected with one of the doctors on the panel of doctors set up by the corresponding State’s health department.

That’s all for today, stay home and stay safe.