HomeStartup NewsIndia allows registered medical practitioners to use telemedicine: Here's what it means

India allows registered medical practitioners to use telemedicine: Here's what it means

The new guidelines will now let the medical practitioner carry out patient consultations through video, phone, and even through chat platforms.

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By Megha Vishwanath   | Mugdha Variyar  March 26, 2020, 7:18:52 PM IST (Published)

You can now consult with your doctors through telephone or video calls. The government has released the much-awaited guidelines that allow registered medical practitioners to consult patients from remote locations through the use of technology.


In India, so far there was no legislation or guidelines on the practice of telemedicine, and the new guidelines will now let the medical practitioner carry out patient consultations through video, phone, and even through chat platform such as Google Hangouts as well as messaging apps such as Whatsapp. To discuss the new guidelines, CNBC-TV18's Startup Street team spoke to Shashank ND, CEO of healthcare platform Practo.

The novel coronavirus pandemic has stalled economic activity and is threatening to push the world into a recession with most sectors feeling the impact. However, the impact on Indian pharma industry has been limited due to its existing inventory levels across supply chains.

The government recently issued guidelines for coronavirus testing to 25 private labs in the country, set price caps for such tests, and roped in national laboratories as the number of confirmed cases rose. Startup Street  team also spoke to GSK Velu, Chairman & MD of Neuberg Diagnostics, Arindam Haldar, CEO of SRL Diagnostics and Zoya Brar, Founder and CEO of Core Diagnostics to understand their immediate course of action.

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