New Delhi (The Hawk): “eSanjeevani is a revolution in the health sector of the country. India has crossed a landmark milestone in its eHealth journey. The Government of India’s national telemedicine platform – eSanjeevani- registered another landmark by providing teleconsultation services to 10 crore beneficiaries.” This was stated by Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, here today.
Further appreciating the healthcare services being provided through the digital platform of tele-consultation, Dr Mandaviya noted that 100.11 million patients were served at 115,234 Health & Wellness Centres (as spokes) through 15,731 hubs and 1,152 online OPDs populated with 229,057 medical specialists and super-specialists trained in telemedicine. eSanjeevani has been augmented further to support over 1 million consultations in a day, so far, the platform has peaked to serve 5,10,702 patients in a day.
“eSanjeevani - the National Telemedicine Service of India is the world’s largest telemedicine implementation in the primary healthcare. eSanjeevani has shown as a blessing especially to people in rural areas where it was harder to access care. It has since found much wider application across the health spectrum and has transformed primary healthcare services in our country. It can be safely assumed that through ICT, eSanjeevani has democratised healthcare. It is reassuring to note that over 57% of the beneficiaries of eSanjeevani are women and around 12% beneficiaries are senior citizens. This platform also goes to reflect that the platform is finding its reach in the more vulnerable sections of the population where its effect is fetches maximum impact. This speaks volumes about the telemedicine platform and the extent to which it has reinvented itself over time to meet the growing demands of healthcare in India”, he added.
Leading 10 States in terms of adoption of eSanjeevani are Andhra Pradesh (31701735), Tamil Nadu (12374281), West Bengal (12311019), Karnataka (11293228), Uttar Pradesh (5498907), Maharashtra (4780259), Telangana (4591028), Madhya Pradesh (4015879), Bihar (3220415) and Gujarat (2988201) (State wise and UT wise table given at the end).
The cloud-based eSanjeevani platform was introduced in two modes:
eSanjeevaniAB-HWC (a provider-to-provider telemedicine platform): an assisted telemedicine system that connects patients through health workers and medical officers in Health & Wellness Centres to the doctors and specialists in hubs established in secondary/tertiary level health facilities or medical colleges. This variant is based on a Hub-and-Spoke model.
eSanjeevaniOPD (a patient to provider telemedicine platform): it empowers citizens to access outpatient services in the confines of their homes through smartphones of laptops etc.
Aligned with Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Digital India where quality healthcare percolates right up to the remotest regions powered by e-Healthcare, eSanjeevani was launched in November 2019. As a cornerstone of Ayushman Bharat Scheme – world’s largest health insurance to achieve Universal Health Coverage, eSanjeevani is testimony to the fact that digital health has come of age in India. eSanjeevani has digitally brought healthcare services to the masses in rural areas and remote communities. This first-of-its-kind, government owned telemedicine platform that has brought a colossal populace (doctors as well as patients) in the fold of the digital health ecosystem by providing free of cost consultations to one and all. The initiative has enabled digitalisation of health information, which can aid policymakers to come up with effective and timely health policies.
Soon after COVID 19 touched Indian shores and the release of telemedicine practice guidelines by Govt. of India, eSanjeevani was the only hope for millions of citizens in the country to access doctors and medical specialists for non-COVID 19 and COVID 19 medical conditions safely from within the confines of their homes. Going beyond the call of their duty and to serve the country, closely working with the team at the Union Health Ministry, eSanjeevani’s patient to doctor variant was rapidly developed and rolled out by the pioneers of telemedicine in Mohali branch of Centre for Development of Advanced Computing while working from home during the first National lockdown in March 2020. Indigenously developed, eSanjeevani technology has brought in a significant shift in the sphere of health informatics by enabling the digitalisation of health information. Apart from the direct benefit of being able to facilitate care on demand, and leveraging the potential of information technology, eSanjeevani successfully overcomes the challenges of geography, accessibility, cost and distance to provide equitable and quality care to populations across India. eSanjeevani has proved to be a yardstick for swift capacity building as well as utilising digital technology to strengthen healthcare. eSanjeevani is also shaping into the harbinger of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission that aims to, develop the backbone necessary to support the integrated digital health infrastructure of the country. The success of this initiative is analogous with the impact and success of Digital India Mission.
After tapping the potential of teleconsultations to the fullest, the Union Health Ministry is all set to add the logical next dimension of telediagnosis in the new avatar of eSanjeevani. This entails seamless integration of a vast spectrum Point of Care Diagnostic devices (PoCDs), also known as near patient testing. PoCDs provide results of various clinical tests including physiological parameters within minutes of taking a test there by facilitating rapid diagnosis and quick decisions.
eSanjeevani 2.0 will enhance the telemedicine experience further with a plethora of new features both in terms of technology as well as innovation. The architecture is now more secure whilst being scalable to undertake additional demands.