Union Health Ministry emphasises on hub and spoke model for telemedicine facilities
Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare was replying to Kanomozhi Karunanidhi during the question hour in Lok Sabha
During the question hour in Lok Sabha, Kanomozhi Karunanidhi asked the Union Health Minister whether it is a fact that many medical practitioners have started giving prescriptions through social media and messaging apps post-COVID-19 pandemic. In this case, what steps are taken/proposed to be taken to keep a check on medical consultations done online and whether the government plans to regulate online medical consultations and telemedicine consultations across the country?
Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare stated that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoH&FW), Government of India, has developed a telemedicine application known as National Telemedicine Service, eSanjeevani which provides doctor-to-doctor and patient-to-doctor consultations. This application works on a hub and spoke model. At the hub level, a specialist doctor provides services to Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) in rural areas. eSanjeevani application is also available in the OPD module and provides service to anyone who installed it.
MoH&FW has further issued a letter, dated January 19, 2021, requesting the states to make and implement an action plan for regulating online service health aggregators and related service providers.
