The Registrar of Modern Medicine Council under the Travancore-Cochin Medical Councils (TCMC) has issued guidelines for online consultation of patients and prescription of medicines in the State.
The consultation shall be for minor ailments and for routine follow-ups. The doctor should be aware of the medical history of the patient. No injectable should be prescribed. Prescription for clinically suspected COVID-19 cases cannot be allowed.
The doctors should record the identity of the patient for whom prescription is given. The prescription should be on the letter head of the registered medical practitioner with name, registration number, registered qualification, and full signature. This should be in PDF format and each patient’s history should be recorded with serial number. The prescription must superscribe an order number, date of the order and the word ‘online consultation.’
The doctor must be a registered person under the TCMC medicine council and the patient must be within the radius of direct consultation. Medical records should be prepared in each online consultation in PDF format and it should be emailed to the TCMC after the current period of lockdown. No consultation outside the TCMC jurisdiction is allowed.
The online consultation should be subject to the prevailing laws. Any violation will invite penal action. The Registrar said that the TCMC may at any point withdraw the order enabling online consultation without prior notice, and it may automatically be cancelled once normality returns in Kerala.
