MedicalBrief 296 - 2 April 2020
"Medical organisations – including the SA Medical Association (Sama), the Board of Healthcare Funders of SA, the Health Funders Association, the SA Private Practitioners Forum, the SA Society of Anaesthesiologists, and the United Forum of Family Practitioners – representing tens of thousands of doctors and therapists, are unhappy that they are only permitted to use video or phone calls to only treat existing patients during the COVID-19 outbreak, saying the restriction is “wrong and dangerous”.
Business Day reports that the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA), the regulator of doctors and therapists, had previously banned all forms of telemedicine except for allowing doctors to give a prescription over the phone. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, doctors worldwide have embraced virtual consults to protect patients and reduce their need to come into waiting rooms and possibly be exposed to those infected with COVID-19.
Since mid-March, South African doctors have been lobbying the health minister and the regulator to ensure the ban on telemedicine is lifted. The report said with many doctors self-isolating for two weeks at a time after diagnosing an infected patient, it is better for the constrained health system to allow much-needed doctors to work from home.
Last week, the HPCSA relaxed its restriction on telemedicine for the period of the coronavirus outbreak, as long as doctors, physio and speech therapists only help existing patients via video call. The new guidelines only permit psychologists to use video or telephone calls to counsel new patients.
“There is no rational basis for the guideline … why would a doctor need a prior relationship with a patient to give advice about the coronavirus?” asked Sama president Dr Angelique Coetzee, speaking on behalf of all the groups."
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