Apollo TeleHealth Crosses 1 Million Teleconsultations Through Keonjhar Digital Dispensary Initiative
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The programme has expanded to 66 Digital Dispensaries across Keonjhar, serving more than 30,000 patients every month.
Apollo TeleHealth has completed more than one million teleconsultations through its Keonjhar Digital Dispensary initiative in Odisha, according to the latest report.
The programme is being implemented in partnership with the Chief District Medical & Public Health Officer (CDM&PHO), Keonjhar, with support from the District Mineral Foundation (DMF).
The initiative combines teleconsultations, diagnostics, pharmacy services, and referral care within the public health system, reducing geographical barriers to timely treatment through a technology-enabled public-private partnership.
Since its inception in 2023, the programme has expanded to 66 Digital Dispensaries across Keonjhar, serving more than 30,000 patients every month.
As per reports, the initiative has facilitated more than one million teleconsultations and prescriptions, enabled over 200,000 diagnostic tests, and supported more than 20,000 referrals for specialised care.
The organisation reported that more than 90 per cent of patients receive treatment at the point of care, reducing waiting times to between five and eight minutes while lowering the time and cost of travelling long distances for healthcare.
Launched in September 2023, the initiative was designed to address gaps in access to doctors, diagnostics and medicines across Keonjhar’s remote tribal and mining communities.
By integrating teleconsultations, diagnostics, pharmacy services and referral care within the public health system, the programme is intended to bring multiple healthcare services closer to patients’ homes, enable earlier diagnosis and treatment, and support continuity of care for patients requiring specialised medical intervention.
As per the organisation, the initiative has also strengthened the early detection and management of conditions including malnutrition, malaria, dengue and chronic diseases, improved utilisation of antenatal care services, and enabled referrals for patients requiring advanced treatment.
The organisation further plans to explore extending the Digital Dispensary model to other tribal, remote and underserved regions, adapting the approach to local healthcare needs and supporting technology-enabled primary healthcare delivery across India.
Commenting on the latest development, Dr. Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group, said, “When we started this work in Keonjhar, the goal was simple: get care to people who’d otherwise have to travel hours just to see a doctor. Crossing a million teleconsultations tells us that’s actually happening, at a scale most people wouldn’t have thought possible in a district like this. What I find most encouraging isn’t the number itself; it’s what sits behind it: diagnostics, medicines, referrals, all working together instead of as separate pieces someone has to chase down on their own.”
“That’s really the gap in rural healthcare. It’s not that treatment doesn’t exist somewhere; it’s that reaching it in time is hard. If we can keep building models like this, ones that plug into the public health system rather than sit alongside it, I think we start to change what primary healthcare looks like for a lot of underserved parts of the country,” she added.
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