Launched on September 9, 2020 to ensure that people living even in the most remote corners of the State have access to healthcare services through tele-consultation with technical partner USAID-NISHTHA, Naga Tele-health has been assisting in providing quality healthcare services at 202 Ayushman Bharat – Health & Wellness Centres (HWCs) across 12 districts of the State.
Ayushman Bharat HWCs are the first points of contact where people wishing to access tele-medicine services approach community health officers (CHOs) posted there. These CHOs collect medical history of the patient and schedule a live consultation with medical officers or specialist doctors. And once the live consultation is complete with the doctor, the patient gets a prescription from the doctor based on his or her medical condition. The patient can then get all the required medicines from the CHOs at the HWC using the prescription.
Besides, if the doctor suggests further investigations, CHOs, who are trained to conduct basic laboratory tests, conduct the tests or refer to higher facilities. In this way, any person living in rural areas and unable to travel to meet the doctor are getting access to quality healthcare through this platform, which is not only closer to their homes but is also free of cost.
Currently, 19 GDMOs and eight specialist doctors are empanelled especially for this project. There is also a provision of referral and tele-consultation with specialist doctors with support from Christian Institute of Health Sciences & Research, Dimapur. With the increased demand for tele-consultation, there are now plans to empanel more doctors in Naga Tele-health so that the community can make best use of the opportunity.
In fact, within a short time, more than 1,200 live consultations have already been completed.
USAID-NISHTHA/Jhpiego is working closely with National Health Mission, Government of Nagaland, in developing and rolling out this platform.
With COVID-19 pandemic bringing unprecedented challenges to the healthcare system, leading to widespread disruption of essential healthcare services due to the ongoing restrictions and lockdowns and people are hesitant to visit health facilities even for routine health check-ups due to the fear of contracting the infection. In such a dire scenario, telemedicine has emerged as an innovative solution for service delivery to people in need.
This platform would also be beneficial for triaging Covid-19 patients, ensuring service delivery to non-critical Covid cases and in managing essential healthcare services at the primary level, which would reduce the burden at district hospitals and help deliver healthcare services effectively and efficiently, stated a press release.