The Karnataka Medical Council (KMC) recently advised doctors against engaging in online consultations, saying that such practices are against the regulatory body’s code of ethics.
People in cities like Bengaluru, battling traffic jams and stressful deadlines, see online consultation applications as a blessing.
Applications like mfine, DocsApp and 1mg are popular among citizens.
The KMC strongly believes that it is important to establish a doctor-patient relationship before a consultation. Dr H Veerabhadrappa, president, KMC says, “In telemedicine, a doctor is seeking the advice of another medical expert, while in online mobile applications, symptoms of a condition can be misdiagnosed. This could lead to medical accidents.”
He adds, “While such consultations are okay for over-the-counter medicines, doctors should not recommend medicines based on a version given by the patient, including for complaints like chest congestion.”
Applications like DocsApp follow guidelines and a protocol laid down by an internal team. It is based on the ones laid down by organisations like National Health Service and American Society, among others.
Dr Gowri Kulkarni, head of medical operations, DocsApp, says that clinical guidelines available for offline consultations are adopted on the platform. “We have also adopted certain measures to understand and practice medicine in an ethical manner. For eg: if a patient is known to allergic to a certain medication, he will not be advised the same,” she says.
She adds, “From a diagnostic point of view, asking the right questions and knowing what are the medications one can or cannot prescribe online is important. Some medicines have certain side effects, and may need a physical examination or more investigations.”
Dr Gowri says that there are several situations when a diagnosis is not done online. “If there is a diagnostic dilemma after knowing one’s medical history, no medications are prescribed. When red flags rise, like a fever with rashes which could be many different things, we always suggest the patient to go to a doctor. Many issues like surgery or a fracture are referred to doctors offline.”
A doctor (who did not want to be named), who used to provide consultation on an online medical app, says that these apps are popular among Bengalureans as they are convenient. “Online applications also provide privacy, especially in areas like gynecology, psychology etc,” he says.
“The appointment system in hospitals is quite tricky and it can be difficult reaching a doctor in time. Also, mobile apps are a preferred choice when a second opinion is required,” he adds.