Soliciting patients online unethical
E-medicine, soliciting patients online and registering on websites are practices that are being questioned for ethical reasons, sparking a debate among doctors.
With many websites and mobile apps available that connect patients with doctors, there are questions being raised whether it all amounts to advertising and if they promote services directly or indirectly.
The Medical Council of India, in its code of ethics, states that soliciting patients directly or indirectly by a physician or a group of physicians is unethical.
But in the digital world, this is happening. Appointments are fixed and doctors are connected to patients online.
Dr K.K. Aggarwal, the honorary secretary of the Indian Medical Association, said, “The rules of the real world apply in the digital world as well because marketing or promoting on the Internet is not permitted in the medical profession.”
But senior doctors in the city state that in an organised set up, a mobile-based healthcare platform is created to connect to patients who are far away and require help.
Dr R. Raghu, a senior doctor, said, “The patients are being connected and their initial problems like medical queries, diagnostic reports and medical status are understood and they are counselled faceto-face via video conferencing. This is actually done in a medical set-up, like a small hospital or a clinic and it saves the patient the trouble of travelling to the city to seek the opinion of the doctor.”
A senior cardiologist calls on most of his patients on whom stent operations have been done to the health camps that he conducts in various districts of the state. The doctor explained, “I am in touch with most of my patients via videoconferencing or via telemedicine systems. It is only when their complaints are serious do I call them to the city hospital. After a stent operation, patients waste a lot of money travelling to the city for follow-ups. Therefore, a group of doctors has decided to organise health camps in the districts. Many of our patients find it easy to visit such camps for consultation.”
While these methods are being practiced, the IMA and also the MCI are preparing a code of ethics for doctors for practicing in the digital world.
Dr Aggarwal said, “The code is very clear that soliciting patients through websites, paying fees to agents or companies who are hosting such portals and boasting of achievements in the social media are dubbed as unethical. Those practicing this method are completely wrong.”
Senior consultant Dr Nirmal Kumar said, “The clause of medico-legal issue also requires to be considered in digital practice. If the first visit of the patient is in person, then giving advice over Internet service is agreed upon. This is because personal examination and understanding the complete problem of the patient is required. In the organised set-ups of corporate hospitals and private practices these points are kept in mind. This is because a single death or mishap, allegedly due to negligence attributed to the advice, can land the company and also the doctor in court.”