Shimla: The state government has claimed of facilitating 24,527 consultations through the e-Sanjeevani and e-Sanjeevani OPD portals during the Coronavirus pandemic. This is the third highest in the country after Tamil Nadu with 32,035 consultations and Andhra Pradesh with 28,960 consultations.
Govt spokesperson stated that the State had responded swiftly and put in place tele-medicine services in March, 2020 in larger public interest.
E-Sanjeevani portal started on 31st March 2020 in the State. This portal is meant to connect the most peripheral health institutions i.e. Health Sub Centres and Primary Health Centres with specialists and super-specialists in the Medical Colleges of the State.
The government has notified 1022 facilities comprising of 504 Health Sub-Centres (HSCs) and 518 Primary Health Centres (PHCs) to be upgraded as Health and Wellness Centres for providing Comprehensive Primary Health Care (CPHC) which is the key determinant in achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) under Aayushman Bharat.
For providing tele-consultation services, the Health & Wellness Centres were equipped with 867 desktops along with speakers and webcams to provide tele-consultation and another 199 desktops are in the process of being supplied. As of now, there are 303 active Health Sub-Centres which are connected with PHC Ner Chowk Mandi College who are availing the service of tele-consultation. Presently there are 446 PHCs of the State are working both as hub for Community Health Officers.
The State has established three specialist hubs at IGMC Shimla, Dr. RPGMC Tanda and SLBSGMC, Mandi. Specialists and super-specialists in the fields of Medicine, Cardiology, Orthopaedics, Obstetrics, Gynaecology, Dermatology, Neurology, Paediatrics, Gastroenterology and Psychiatry have been placed in these hubs. Till date, 112 doctors from different specialities have been registered in these three hubs.
The specialist and the PHC hubs are providing tele-consultation services on all working days from 9.30 AM to 4.00 PM. The tele-consultation happens in the form of a tele-conference in which the patient is also seated beside the health provider while seeking tele-consultation.
Over and above, the state has also on boarded an e-Sanjeevni OPD portal which is specifically developed to provide tele-consultation services to the community directly. Using this portal any person of the state can seek tele-consultation services from the comfort of their home from doctors specially placed in the three hubs for providing the services. Now this application is also available on a smart phone making it more accessible for the community.
Till date, 26006 consultations have been made on e-Sanjeevni portal and 687 on e-Sanjeevani OPD portal.
