Proposed guidelines for Registered Medical Practitioners (2022) by the National Medical Council
Jun 11, 2022
New Delhi [India], June 11 (ANI/SRV): The National Medical Commission (NMC) spells out new ethics guidelines for doctors, clinics, and hospitals on the use of social media. Invites comments from stakeholders. The National Medical Commission (NMC) has issued guidelines to stop the unethical use of social media and apps where 'likes', 'followers' and 'ratings' including bumping doctors on top of 'the best doctors' list are being bought.
In the post-pandemic era, online consultation became the norm. Apps and websites that rate and 'list' down the best doctors based on their social media followers, likes and ratings popped up overnight misleading the people into believing more followers, more likes, better ratings = the best doctor to consult.
To stop the obvious bending of medical ethics and regulations, The National Medical Commission (NMC) has drafted guidelines to be followed by a Registered Medical Practitioner (RMP) to curb the menace of misleading advertisements, unethical testimonials, promotions, and other unethical practices. The ethical guidelines section that has been introduced is called "The conduct of RMPs on social media' for which the NMC has invited comments from the various stakeholders.
DocStokes being one-of-a-kind digital marketing agency that only works for the healthcare sector, welcomes the initial guidelines, having experienced first-hand how unethical social media practices are affecting the masses. While the initial guidelines aim to straighten the skewed system, it also factors in the need for the doctors to have and maintain a social media presence provided that the information put out by the RMPs (Registered Medical Practitioner) is factual and can be verified.
The NMC also states that the information should not be deceptive or misleading and should not take advantage of patient's lack of knowledge or vulnerability by keeping a clear distinction between teleconsultation and social media. Although, it should be noted that the NMC has not yet defined what falls under 'social media'.
Stating these guidelines as the need of the hour, Docstokes founder and spokesperson Dr Kavya Singh said that they are 'a good place to start' while terming the guidelines as 'better late than never'. Although the guidelines do require an in-depth discussion for which the NMC has invited comments from the stakeholders.
From its initiation 2 years ago, DocStokes has be working with RMPs, Clinics and Hospitals across the country to provide quality healthcare marketing services that are based on the ethics and regulations of the medical profession. DocStokes is based at Surat, Gujarat and has Dr Kavya Singh as its founder. Being a doctor herself, she understands the finer nuances of marketing medical content that could be easily misconstrued. DocStokes has interpreted these guidelines in simple terms for others to understand and can be found at this link
Reach out to www.docstokes.com for any queries regarding the healthcare digital marketing for RMPs or to know how and where to share opinions on the NMC guidelines on +91 79903 66917 or info@docstokes.com.
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