MCI moves to develop mandatory Telemedicine Certification Course for all registered doctors

New Delhi: After giving an urgent nod to the practice of telemedicine by registered medical practitioners, the Medical Council of India (MCI) is now going to develop an online course on the practice of telemedicine in association with National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS)

The course would be mandatory for all those registered medical practitioners that intend to provide medical consultation using telemedicine means

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the Medical Council of India Board of Governors (MCI BOG) and with the central government had given the nod to the practice of telemedicine by registered medical practitioners. For the same, the MCI had also issued guidelines document to guide medical practitioners consisting of various definitions and dos and don'ts as well.

Section 1.3 of the guidelines clearly state Registered medical practitioners are entitled to practice telemedicine and that all of them will take an online course on practice of Telemedicine. It further states the following

1.3.1 A Registered Medical Practitioner is entitled to provide telemedicine consultation to patients from any part of India

1.3.2 RMPs using telemedicine shall uphold the same professional and ethical norms and standards as applicable to traditional in-person care, within the intrinsic limitations of telemedicine

1.3.3 To enable all those RMPs who would want to practice telemedicine get familiar with these Guidelines as well as with the process and limitations of telemedicine practice:

 An online program will be developed and made available by the Board of Governors in supersession of Medical Council of India.

 All registered medical practitioners intending to provide online consultation need to complete the mandatory online course within 3 years of its notification.

 In the interim period, the principles mentioned in these guidelines need to be followed.

 Thereafter, undergoing and qualifying such a course, as prescribed, will be essential prior to practice of telemedicine.

In pursuance of the guidelines, the MCI BOG recently considered the proposal received from Director, NIMHANS for developing a structured course for certification in telemedicine.

Based on the proposal by Director, NIMAHNS, the Board of Governors have now decided to constitute the following Committee/Working Group to facilitate the development of the telemedicine course

(i) Steering Committee

(i) Dr B.N. Gangadhar- Chair

(ii) Dr Nikhil Tandon- Co-Chair

(iii) Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Madhuri Kanitkar-Member

(iv) Dr K.S. Sharma-Member

(v) Dr Rajiv Garg (DGHS)- Member

(vi) Dr R.K.Vats- Member- Secretary

Besides this, there will also be an Expert Group for the purpose of this course. The BOG decided that the Steering Committee would nominate 10-12 Experts with experience in Tele-Medicine matters.

It has also been decided that a Working Group located at NIMHANS which will be involved in the actual development of the course material and the same would be selected by Dr.B.N. Gangadhar. It was further decided that Rs.5 Lakhs may be earmarked for this activity from the MCI budget.