Teleconsultation services under scrutiny as MOH seeks to tighten issuance of MCs

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In: South-East Asia

In Febuary, MOH said Medstar Medical Clinic &amp, Surgery was under inspection for issuing health certificates Clusters without any audio or video conversation on its telemedicine&nbsp, site, &nbsp, PocketCare. &nbsp,

Investigations found that the center, which is located along Serangoon Road, &nbsp, had been “providing assessment through a self- company text- based questionnaire”. Without any patient audio or video contact, MCs were later issued.

The&nbsp, PocketCare site was even found to possess &nbsp, featured states that individuals could” Get Your MC or Get a Compensation”. &nbsp,

Dr&nbsp, Viknesh Shanmugam, the&nbsp, health practitioner&nbsp, who issued the MCs following the interviews, has been referred to SMC for&nbsp, investigations&nbsp, into possible vulnerabilities of its ethics code.

MOH even issued a realize to Medstar, stating&nbsp, Director- General of Health&nbsp, Kenneth Mak’s intention to take governmental activity, &nbsp, including a three- quarter suspension of its telemedicine services and the need to solve its&nbsp, consultation services before it can be resumed. &nbsp,

Established AMENDMENTS&nbsp,

Teleconsultation service by authorized specialists, have been regulated since Jun 26, 2023, read the circle. &nbsp,

Real-time, two-way engaging audio-visual connections, such as video consultations, must be used when teleconsulting with new patients, per the regulations.

According to MOH and SMC, “MCs should not be issued to new clients via teleconsultations solely based on the patients ‘ requests without proper evaluation by a medical professional to determine whether the release of the MCs is warranted.” &nbsp,

The round continued, noting that this shows how revered and respected the job is the profession has become because of the recognition of MCs by registered medical practitioners.

While noting that the issuance of MCs is a” clinical decision”, the circular stressed it is “imperative” that the issuance of MCs adheres to the guidelines in SMC’s ethics code, which state that MCs “must be issued to patients only on proper medical grounds arrived at through good clinical assessment” &nbsp, –&nbsp, regardless of the mode of the consultation.

In order to comply with this requirement, MOH intends to require all franchisees to provide the name and clinical committee registration (MCR ) number of the issuing physician. &nbsp,