VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh is the only state in the country to have recorded 20 lakh telemedicine consultations under eSanjeevani Telemedicine service, developed by Government of India. Over 25% of the total consultations done in the country have been clocked in Andhra Pradesh alone.
The AP government started the eSanjeevani Telemedicine service on November 7, 2019. A total of 13 telemedicine hubs were established in medical colleges with one hub each in the 13 districts of the state. All 1,145 Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and 2,914 Sub Health Centres (SHCs) are connected to these telemedicine hubs so as to provide medical services.
Telemedicine hubs provide specialist services to the patients who visit SHC/PHCs through video conference and by generating the prescriptions online. Further, telemedicine hubs also provide a medical officer for the patients incase they cannot visit an SHC or a PHC. The medicines prescribed by the medical officer are then delivered to patients at their home. Each telemedicine hub has one specialist each for general medicine, pediatrics, gynaecology and two medical officers.