Aarogya Setu Launches Mitr Telemedicine Portal For Consultations

In an attempt to make Aarogya Setu a one-stop solution for all healthcare and Covid-19 prevention needs, the Indian government has launched a new Mitr portal to offer free telemedicine and consultation services for coronavirus-related inquiries. Aarogya Setu Mitr would also allow the users to book doorstep lab tests.

The Aarogya Setu app has partnered with Swasth Foundation, Project StepOne, Tata Bridgital Health and Tech Mahindra’s healthcare initiative Connectsense Telehealth to offer teleconsultation service from verified doctors.

Public-Private Partnership Brings Aarogya Setu Mitr

The Aarogya Setu Mitr portal has been developed in a public-private partnership (PPP) through a high-powered committee involving departments and business leaders. The committee aimed to revamp the Aarogya Setu app to create a one-stop solution equipped with healthcare facilities, remote healthcare, and medical staff support. The government believes that this would reduce the burden on the Indian healthcare system by providing remote healthcare support.

Aarogya Setu Mitr partner Swasth Foundation is a coalition of top Indian hospitals and telemedicine players in India that is offering a Covid-19 helpline at the moment. Whereas, Project StepOne is powering state helpline numbers by leveraging an existing network of cloud telephony, queuing systems and doctors. Both offer consultations from verified doctors in Marathi, Kannada, Odia, Punjabi, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and English.

Tata Group’s healthcare initiative Tata Bridgital Health is offering teleconsultations from 100 verified doctors through the medium of audio, video and text in English and Hindi. Meanwhile, Tech Mahindra’s Connectsense Telehealth platform is offering audio and video consultation from leading hospitals in Telugu, English and Hindi.

Besides these, Aarogya Setu Mitr has listed 1mg Dr Lal Pathlabs, Metropolis, SRL Diagnostics and Thyrocare to offer doorstep lab tests. Once the request is placed, the companies will collect all required samples from home and deliver the results as well.  Besides these, online pharmacies like Netmeds, PharmaEasy, and Medlife, along with 1mg, have been listed to offer medicines online.

Aarogya Setu Mitr’s Data Safety And Privacy Policy

According to the website, the portal will provide doorstep healthcare services through third-party entities. “The services listed on the portal are part of a collaboration between the public and private sectors. The use of each service linked from the portal is governed by the Service Provider’s Privacy policy and their respective terms of service,” Aarogya Setu Mitr portal highlighted.

As per the privacy policy, Mitr will collect the user’s IP address, postal code and details of the device used for providing services. It has also clarified that the information submitted during the sign-up process is only used to contact the person and is “securely managed by the portal.” The information retained by the Mitr portal can also be utilised to run analytics regarding the usage of and access to the portal, it highlighted.

Aarogya Setu assures users that the data collected is encrypted and the portal is equipped with standard security features to protect the confidentiality and security of the information.