Telemedicine Practice Guidelines
Enabling Medical Practitioners to Provide Healthcare Using Telemedicine.Integrate Telemedicine in Your Clinical Practice
With telemedicine practice guidelines of India
1. Watershed moment in Indian healthcare:
The Indian Government published Telemedicine Practice Guidelines on March 25, 2020. These guidelines clarified India’s position on the legality of teleconsultation. It is now perfectly legal to provide teleconsultation by registered medical practitioners in line with the requirements of the Telemedicine Guidelines in India.
2. Definition of telemedicine as per the guideline:
The delivery of health care services, where distance is a critical factor, by all health care professionals using information and communication technologies for the exchange of valid information for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease and injuries, research and evaluation, and for the continuing education of health care providers, all in the interests of advancing the health of individuals and their communities
3. The statutory clarity for medical practitioners:
The Board of Governors entasked by the Health Ministry to regulate practice and practitioners of modern medicine, published an amendment to the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002 that gave statutory support and basis for the practice of telemedicine in India. The relevant part of the amendment states that ‘consultation through Telemedicine by the Registered Medical Practitioner under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 shall be permissible in accordance with the Telemedicine Practice Guidelines contained in Appendix 5 (of Code of Conduct).
4. Training in telemedicine:
The Board of Governors in supersession of Medical Council or National Medical Commission would introduce training programs in telemedicine. It will be mandatory to participate in those training programs for all doctors who intend to offer teleconsultations to patients. However, until such training programs are developed, there is no restriction for registered doctors to engage in teleconsultation for patients who are eligible to receive remote care.
