Rims caters to 1,200 patients through online OPD

RANCHI: E-consultations are gradually becoming the new normal for patients in Jharkhand. Though the National Health Mission’s e-Sanjeevani is yet to gather steam in the state, Rims’ online OPD services has already catered to over 1,200 patients.
On an average, the e-OPD at Rims receives around 60 patients per day, whereas, e-Saneevani get only 40 a day and officials rue procedural glitches.
Rims director D K Singh said, “Around 1,300 patients have been provided consultations by doctors from ten different departments through the e-OPD service.Our team of doctors from the superspecialty departments are also attending to patients who are being referred for specific ailments.”
The hospital administration has constituted a five-member special team of senior doctors which include Dr Arpita Roy, Dr Lakhan Manjhi, Dr Mithilesh, Dr Anshul and Dr Nishant to co-ordinate the day-to-day operations of the e-OPD which is functioning out of the multimedia resource centre at the administrative block.
Roy said, “A total of 988 patients who had registered themselves for consultation have been provided assistance by doctors from 18 departments between April 20 to May 13. Around 225 patients who had earlier consulted doctors at Rims were also provided follow up treatments by doctors from different departments.”
Adding further, Roy said 14.55% of the total calls were from patients who were being treated by Rims before the lockdown and the rest of the 85.48% were new patients who have never visited Rims or called for the first time due to the lack of healthcare services owing to Covid-19.
Meanwhile, the e-Sanjeevani OPD initiative by the state unit of the National Health Mission received a lukewarm response due to its procedural glitches as a patient opting for consultation by a doctor on this portal requires a laptop or desktop with an internet connection and a web cam, microphone and speakers for having a two way conversation with the available doctor.
“A total of 371 patients have been attended by our medical officers since its inception on May 1, including 22 on Wednesday,” said L R Pathak, the nodal officer for e-Sanjeevani in Jharkhand.
On being inquired about the response from the patients on their portal, Pathak said, “We are advertising about the portal among the masses and its five-step registration process through our district healthcare authorities. We have also directed our community health officers in villages to facilitate consultations of patients from their respective areas and are planning to rope in Pragya Kendras to act as centres for facilitation to boost the number of patients.”