The National Medical Commission Registered Medical Practitioner (Professional Conduct) Regulations, 2022

 

National Medical Commission Registered Medical Practitioner (Professional Conduct) Regulations, 2022

Registered Medical Practitioner: Registered Medical Practitioner” or “RMP” means a person whose name is either in the State Medical Register or the Indian Medical Register or the National Medical Register unless otherwise specified.

Duties and responsibilities of the Registered Medical Practitioners:

1. At the time of making an application under the provisions of the NMC Act, it shall be deemed that the RMP has read and agreed to abide by these regulations.

2. Who are registered under NMC Act, 2019, can use Medical Doctor as a prefix before their names.

3. Every self-employed RMP shall display the unique registration ID assigned to her/him by Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) in his/her prescription, certificate, and money receipts given to patients.

4. Employed RMP shall get a seal made by the employer for displaying the unique registration number below the RMP’s signatures.

5. The RMP shall display as a suffix to his/her name only NMC-recognized and accredited medical degrees/diplomas as provided in the nomenclature of the regulations and listed on the NMC website.

6. A RMP shall not claim to be a clinical specialist unless he/she has NMC-recognized training and qualification in that specific branch of modern medicine.

7. Every RMP shall practice the system of medicine in which he/she has trained and certified (for this purpose referred to as modern medicine or allopathic medicine) and shall not associate professionally with any unqualified person to perform any treatment, procedure, or operation.

8. A RMP shall not employ in connection with his/her professional practice any healthcare professional who is neither registered nor trained under the relevant Medical Acts in force related to the practice of modern medicine.

9. Provided that having employed any other assistants in the practice, the ultimate responsibility rests on the self-employed RMP or the RMP responsible for administration and recruitment in case of hospital practice.

10. A person qualified in more than one system of medicine should decide which system he wants to practice. Anyone licensed to practice modern medicine under NMC Act, shall not practice another system of medicine simultaneously.

11. Continuing Professional Development Program: A RMP should attend continuing professional development programs regularly each year, totaling at least thirty credit hours every five years.

12. Renewal of License to practice should be done every 5 years (from the publication of the Gazette notification), after submitting documentation of CPD credit hours.

The license renewal form will allow updates of details like specialization, place of work, address, contact details etc. specified by EMRB/NMC.

13. RMPs who wish to practice in another State (due to transfer of work of residence) should inform the State Medical Council and apply for a License to practice in that State.

14. Right to remuneration of an RMP: Consultation fees should be made known to the patient before examination or treatment of the patient. A reasonable estimation of the cost of surgery or treatment should be provided to the patient to enable an informed decision.

15. A RMP can refuse to continue to treat a patient if the fees, as indicated, are not paid. This does not apply to doctors in Government service or emergencies and the doctor must ensure that the patient is not abandoned.

16. Prohibiting Soliciting of Patients: A RMP shall not solicit patients directly or indirectly or as a part of the group of RMPs, or institutions or organizations or hospitals or nursing homes, or corporate hospitals established, owned, controlled, or maintained by the appropriate Government, local authority, trust, whether private or public, corporation, co-operative society, organization or any other entity or person.

17. Prescribing Generic Medicine: Every RMP is expected to prescribe drugs using generic names written legibly and prescribes drugs rationally, avoiding unnecessary medications and five irrational fixed-dose combination tablets.

18. A RMP shall not directly or indirectly participate in any act of transfer, splitting, or refunding of any fee for diagnostic, scanning, medical, surgical, or other treatment.

19. Prohibition of endorsement of the product or a person: A RMP individually or as part of an organization/association/society shall not give to any person or any companies or to products or to software/platforms, whether for compensation or otherwise.

20. A RMP shall not issue certificates of proficiency in modern medicine to unqualified or nonmedical persons.

21. Certificate must contain the details regarding experience, skills and competency obtained, duration of the training, and kind of work done during training.

22. Restriction on Advertisement:  A RMP is permitted to make a formal announcement in any media (print, electronic or social) within 3 months regarding the following: (1) On starting practice (2) On change of type of practice (3) On changing 6 address (4) On temporary absence from duty (5) On resumption of practice (6) On succeeding to another practice (7) Public declaration of charges.

23. A RMP or any other person including corporate hospitals, running a maternity home, nursing home, private hospital, rehabilitation center, or any type of medical training institution, etc. May place announcements in the lay press, but these should not contain anything more than the name of the institution, type of patients admitted, training and other facilities offered and the fees.

24. A RMP is allowed to do public education through media without soliciting patients for him or the institution.

25. Responsibility of RMP regarding the sale of drugs: A RMP shall not run an open shop to sell medicine prescribed by RMPs other than himself or for the sale of medical or surgical appliances. They are allowed to sell medication to his/her own patients.

26. RMP can prescribe or supply drugs, remedies, or appliances if there is no exploitation of the patients. Drugs prescribed by a RMP or bought from the pharmacy for a patient should explicitly state the generic name of the drug.

27. A RMP shall not dispense or prescribe secret medicines of which he does not know the composition or action in the body. The manufacture or promotion or use of these remedies is prohibited.

28. Responsibility of RMP regarding the Medical Records: Every self-employed RMP shall maintain medical records of patients (outpatients or inpatients) for 3 years from the date of the last contact with the patient for treatment, in a standard preform laid down by the NMC.

29. RMPs are in certain cases bound by law to give or may from time to time be called upon to give certificates, notifications, reports, and other documents of similar character, signed by them in their professional capacity for subsequent use in the courts or administrative or other purposes. Such reports, certificates, or documents should not be untrue, misleading, or improper.

30. A self-employed RMP shall maintain a Register giving full details of such certificates issued by him/her.

31. A RMP shall cooperate in the investigation against incompetent, corrupt or dishonest conduct of other members of the profession without fear or favor.

32. The RMP shall not aid or abet torture, nor shall he be a party to either infliction of mental or physical trauma or concealment of torture inflicted by another person or agency in clear violation of human rights.

33. The RMP should respect the boundaries of the doctor-patient relationship and not exploit the patient for personal, social, and business reasons and avoid sexual boundary violations.

34. RMP shall not refuse on religious grounds alone to assist in or conduct of sterility, birth control, circumcision, and medical termination of Pregnancy when there is a medical indication.

Informed Consent: Before performing any clinical procedure, diagnostic or therapeutic, or operation, the RMP should obtain the documented informed consent of the patient. In case the patient is unable to give consent, the consent of the legal guardian or family member must be taken.

35. A RMP shall not publish photographs or case reports of patients without their permission in any medical or another journal in a manner by which their identity could be revealed.

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