Reimagining India's National Telemedicine Service to improve access to care

Abstract

India's free-to-use National Telemedicine Service, eSanjeevani, has provided over 276 million consultations and shown promise to reduce systemic inequalities in access to care. However, recent reports of dropping footfall have raised questions about the potential of eSanjeevani to bridge service provision gaps in India. We reveal important problems linked to the design and practice of triage and tele-referral nationally within eSanjeevani, corroborated by the experience of one of the co-authors’ practice of Obstetrics and Gynaecology on the platform since 2022. Some of these factors include sub-optimal integration of general practitioners within the tele-referral pathway; inadequate training of health-workers leading to inappropriate and ineffective consultations; outdated or absent technological support; the absence of mechanisms for re-referrals; and lack of feedback loops. We propose measures to re-imagine eSanjeevani to become a more effective tool towards improving public health outcomes and achieving universal health coverage in India.