AarogyaSetu Mitr Telemedicine Portal Launched, Offers Free COVID-19 Consultations and More

Aarogya Setu app maker NITI Aayog and the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Prime Minister have launched a new initiative - the Aarogya Setu Mitr telemedicine portal - to offer citizens essential healthcare services without stepping out of their homes. The Aarogya Setu-branded portal offers doctor consultations, ePharmacy, and Home Lab Test services. The company has partnered with eSanjeevaniOPD, Swasth, StepOne, Tata Bridgital Health, and Tech Mahindra's Connectsense TeleHeath platform to offer online consultation from a large group of doctors. The service offers free COVID-19 related consultations, wherein users can speak to doctors via call, chat, or video conferencing. Home Lab Tests are offered by third-party partnerships like 1mg, Dr. Lal PathLabs, Metropolis, SRL Diagnostics, and Thyrocare.

The Aarogya Setu app now has a new AarogyaSetu Mitr section, which can be accessed by clicking the banner, that offers telemedicine services. One of its key services is free COVID-19 related consultations through a pool of doctors available through third-party partners like Tata Bridgital Health and Swasth. The Aarogya Setu Mitr portal opens up in a browser outside of the app, and is not an in-app integrated feature. Once the AarogyaSetu Mitr portal opens up, you can choose from three options – Consult Doctor, Home Lab Tests, and ePharmacy. If you access the Aarogya Setu Mitr portal outside of the app, via your browser, you will get access to the same links and features. 

AarogyaSetu Mitr has partnered with 1mg for doorstep medicine delivery

The Consult Doctor section lists all third-party partnership that enables this online consultation service. For instance, eSanjeevaniOPD covers general OPD consultations in select states like Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, and more. Swasth, on the other hand, offers access to over 1,000 verified doctors in major Indic languages like Marathi, Kannada, Odia, Punjabi, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, and English. Consultations on Swasth are offered from 9am to 9pm IST, and it offers a free COVID-19 helpline. StepOne also offers free COVID-19 teleconsultations to citizens. Clicking on the desired third-party partner will redirect you to their site for further process. Only COVID-19 related consultations are offered for free, while all other consultations may be offered for a charge. Consultation fees will vary based on the doctor.

For online medicines, AarogyaSetu Mitr has partnered with 1mg, NetMeds, PharmEasay, and MedLife to deliver medicines at your doorstep, and home lab tests can be done through Dr. Lal PathLbs, Metropolis, and others. The AarogyaSetu Mitr portal acts as a platform that showcases all third-party telemedicine services available for citizens in the country. As mentioned, the initiative has been launched by the offices of the Principal Scientific Advisor to the PM and NITI Aayog, and portal has a dedicated section asking third-party telemedicine providers to join the cause.

Describing Aarogya Setu Mitr, the About Us page reads, "AarogyaSetu Mitr is an effort to bring healthcare services to the doorstep of all Indians in the time of the COVID-19 crisis. This initiative has been facilitated by the offices of the Principal Scientific Advisor to the PM and NITI Aayog, with voluntary participation from organizations, industry coalitions, and startups who have helped create a platform for citizens of India to connect with some key services at home. The key service provided is FREE Tele-Consults for patients who may have COVID-19 like symptoms, along with ancillary services like home collection of samples for Diagnostics and Medicine delivery at home."

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