KOCHI: The Covid-19 outbreak has brought about unprecedented changes in all aspects of life. As the healthcare fraternity braces for an extended period of fight against the virus, it is also undergoing a shift to telemedicine practices for non-Covid patients. The trend predicts more patients shifting to online consultations in the days to come. The telemedicine initiative of IMA, in collaboration with the district health administration and National Health Mission, has been functioning since the lockdown began to ensure timely intervention for Covid-19 patients, non-Covid patients and those in quarantine.
The unit, set up initially to combat the outbreak, now has 25-30 medical practitioners providing consultation. They handle around 80-100 calls per day as well as follow-up consultation. “On receiving calls from symptomatic people in quarantine, we arrange the ambulance service to transport them to hospitals as well as testing facilities. For non-Covid patients, telemedicine consultation is provided through video calling on WhatsApp. The unit is supported by volunteers functioning to transport medicines to patients,” said Dr George Tukalan, IMA district joint secretary in charge of the telemedicine unit.
The Indian government released ‘Telemedicine Practice Guidelines- Enabling Registered Practitioners To Provide Healthcare using Telemedicine’ on March 25 to remove ambiguity in the area of digital healthcare. This is also to ensure that no one is denied healthcare during the pandemic.In mid-June, the state government adopted the e-Sanjeevani platform as a long-term solution for non-Covid-19 healthcare services. The initiative, started for general medicine OPD, now has a speciality clinic for non-communicable diseases from 2pm to 4pm on Tuesday and Thursday.
They are planning to expand consultation to various other specialities in collaboration with medical college hospitals, research institutes in the state. The initiative, being handled by DISHA, has a hub of 12 dedicated doctors for online consultation in addition to 200 doctors from across the state who have been trained in online consultation.
According to DISHA, around 2,750 consultations have been carried out through the platform till date. A maximum of 250 consultations can be handled per day. “Due to increasing awareness among the public about the possibilities of telemedicine, e-Sanjeevani is seeing more user interactions everyday. Decentralisation to various districts too will start soon. The facility is especially useful for inmates of jails, orphanages and old age homes where there is the possibility of faster spread. The state government is strengthening the telemedicine services in the context of the pandemic,” said Dr. Divya V S, state nodal officer (training) in charge of e-Sanjeevani.
Private Hospitals
Private hospitals too are shifting to the online mode of consultation. While some of them had telemedicine facilities in the nascent stage even before the pandemic, they are now scaling up to include all specialities under telemedicine. “ We had a telemedicine unit functioning since the past three years, but there was a sudden surge in demand for telemedicine during the initial lockdown months. Facilities have been expanded to provide telemedicine under all specialities.
The aim is to minimise the time spent by a patient in the hospital, by providing them consultation online, while tests and surgeries are done in the hospital. We are looking to strengthen out telemedicine facilities further,” said Kevin Devasia Vellimattam, assistant vice-president of Rajagiri Telemedicine Services.Even as telemedicine seems to be becoming the order of the day, it has its drawback such as dependence on network connectivity and availability of devices such as mobiles/ computers, making it inaccessible for a section of people.
telemedicine
The centre released ‘Telemedicine Practice Guidelines’- Enabling Registered Practitioners To Provide Healthcare using Telemedicine’ on March 25 to remove ambiguity in the area of digital healthcare