Even though it is mandatory for registered medical practitioners with graduate and postgraduate degrees to put registration number along with their signatures on laboratory reports, prescriptions, medical certificates and money receipts handed out to patients, around 90 per cent doctors have been found to have flouted the rules by not putting registration number on medical test reports, money receipts along with their signatures to certify them.

Confirming this, Dr Rohit Jain, an RTI activist and founder Secretary of Practicing Pathologists Society, Rajasthan stated that Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethic) Regulations, 2002 has made it mandatory for doctors to display graduate/postgraduate qualification and registration number accorded to them by state medical councils/Medical Council of India on laboratory reports, prescriptions, medical certificates, money receipts given to their patients. It is observed that around 90 per cent doctors/specialists hardly mention their registration particulars on lab reports and money receipts provided to patients, he added.

In a bid to ensure patient safety and quality of care, The Indian Medical Council Act 1956 has prohibited a person other than a medical practitioner enrolled on a State Medical Register or the Indian Medical Register (IMR) to practice in India. Every new medical graduate must register with the respective state medical council register and is then allocated a registration number. With that registration number, the doctor can practice anywhere in India, he stated.

“There are several unqualified or fake doctors working in the country without proper qualifications and/or registration with IMR or State Registers. In absence of a registration number of doctors, the National Medical Commission (NMC) cannot trace, track and weed out such practitioners from a wide variety of genuine doctors working in the country. On the other hand, the patient also has no way of differentiating between genuine and fake doctors,” Dr Jain stated.

Similarly, in the event of medico-legal cases, it is difficult to trace back from the prescription to build a legal case. A wide variety of degrees appear on doctors’ prescription pads. In absence of registration number, it is difficult to find out if these degrees are genuine, equivalent international qualifications, derecognized, or even completely fake, he said.

Lack of doctor’s registration number on prescriptions, medical test reports makes him unidentifiable in medico-legal cases, he pointed out.

With the adoption of Universal Healthcare Policy in 2017, healthcare services are increasingly being paid for by insurance or state programmes. Lack of doctors’ registration particulars on prescriptions, medical test reports, discharge certificates, money receipts given to patients, makes it difficult for patients to establish the veracity of the claim, he observed.

Covid-19 pandemic thrust telemedicine into the spotlight. NMC also released Telemedicine Practice Guidelines enabling registered medical practitioners to provide healthcare using telemedicine on March 25, 2020. These emerging trends make the authenticity of medical practitioners critical to healthcare delivery in a safe, accessible and equitable way. Registration number helps establish veracity of a doctor, Dr Jain stated.

The registration number of physicians on lab reports assumed significance in the wake of the Supreme Court order on December 12, 2017 stating that laboratory reports can be countersigned only by registered medical practitioners with a post graduate qualification in pathology, he said.

As per Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethic) Regulations, 2002, every physician shall display the registration number accorded to him by the state medical council/Medical Council of India in his clinical and in all his prescriptions, certificates, laboratory reports, money receipts given to his patients. Physicians shall display as suffix to their names only recognized medical degrees or such certificates/diplomas and memberships/honours which confer professional knowledge or recognize any exemplary qualification/achievements, stated the rules.

The rules also made it mandatory for doctors to write their name, designation in full along with registration particulars in their prescription letterhead. In government hospitals where patient-load is heavy, the name of the prescribing doctor must be written below his/her signature.

Dr Jain on July 28, 2022 filed a RTI with NMC replacing Medical Council of India seeking clarification on mandatory requirement for doctors with graduate/postgraduate qualification to display registration number accorded to him by state medical councils/ Medical Council of India on laboratory report, prescriptions, medical certificates, money receipts given to his patients.

Replying to his RTI application, Ethics and Medical Registration Board, NMC on September 23, 2022 stated that Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethic) Regulations, 2002 has made it the mandatory for doctors to display their name, designation in full along with particulars in their clinics and in all their prescriptions, certificates, laboratory reports, money receipts given to his patients.

Source: http://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=153633&sid=1