‘eSanjeevani’ free Telemedicine service integrated with Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission
The National Health Authority (NHA) has announced the successful integration of eSanjeevani with its flagship scheme – Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).
This integration allows the existing users of eSanjeevani, the telemedicine service of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), to easily create their Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) and use it to link and manage their existing health records like prescriptions, lab reports, etc.
The users, thus, would also be able to share their health records with doctors on eSanjeevani which will help in better clinical decision making and ensuring the continuum of care.
Speaking about the significance of this integration, Dr. R.S. Sharma, CEO, NHA said – “ABDM aims to build digital highways to bridge the gaps in existing digital health solutions and stakeholders in India. The integration of eSanjeevani with ABDM is one such example where the 22 crore ABHA holders can link and store their health records created via eSanjeevani directly in the health lockers of their choice. The users can also share their previously linked health records with the doctors on eSanjeevani making the entire consultation process paper-less.”
eSanjeevani service is available in two variants. The first one is eSanjeevani Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centre (AB-HWC) – the Doctor-to-Doctor telemedicine service through which the beneficiaries visiting a HWC can virtually connect to doctors/ specialists in the Hub that could be at tertiary healthcare facility/hospital/medical college. This enables the government to provide general and specialised health services in rural areas and isolated communities.
In other words, eSanjeevani is a doctor to doctor telemedicine system that has been deployed nationally for the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare under “Ayushman Bharat Scheme”. It extends the reach of specialized healthcare services to masses in both rural areas and isolated communities. It tackles the issues of uneven distribution of healthcare personnel and infrastructure by bridging the divide that exists between urban and rural, rich and poor, in terms of access to healthcare services.
The second variant, eSanjeevani OPD is serving patients across the country, connecting them directly to doctors from the comforts of their homes. eSanjeevani OPD offers OPD consultation services to people in the comfort of their homes. This was launched during the COVID pandemic in April 2020. Here, doctor to patient teleconsultation is offered free of cost to the patients.
Both versions – eSanjeevani AB-HWC and eSanjeevani OPD have been integrated with the ABDM platform.
As a result, the eSanjeevani telemedicine platform now joins 40 other digital health applications that have completed their ABDM integration. Together, these health tech services are building a robust, inter-operable and inclusive digital health ecosystem for the country.
It may be noted that eSanjeevani is the first-ever online OPD (outpatient) consultation service offered by the government of India to citizens. According to the government, this is the first time the government of a country is offering a service of this kind to its citizens.
The scheme was started in November 2019.It is run by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Also called the National Teleconsultation Service, it aims to provide healthcare services to patients in their homes.
The eSanjeevani OPD portal and system have been developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in Mohali. Its main features are:
– The scheme was started in November 2019.
– The first state to launch this service was Andhra Pradesh.
– It is run by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
– Also called the National Teleconsultation Service, it aims to provide healthcare services to patients in their homes.
– It includes a structured and safe teleconsultation between a doctor and a patient through online mode (eSanjeevani OPD).
The panel of doctors on the service is drawn by the state governments. A few states like Jharkhand, Kerala, Punjab and Tamil Nadu, etc. have started offering specialised doctor consultation services also.
The service is also available on mobile applications.
