SINGAPORE – Medstar Medical Clinic and Surgery is under investigation by the Ministry of Health (MOH) for allegedly issuing medical certificates (MCs) without any audio or video consultation on the clinic’s website.
In a statement on Feb 23, MOH said it received information earlier in the month that the clinic’s telemedicine service, PocketCare, had been advertising on Instagram and its website that patients could receive an MC in five minutes for $5.99, with no video consultation required.
The ministry’s preliminary findings show that the clinic, which is located in Jalan Besar, has been issuing MCs to patients after they complete a text-based questionnaire.
MOH has referred the clinic’s registered medical practitioner, Dr Viknesh Shanmugam, to the Singapore Medical Council (SMC) for investigations for possibly breaching the SMC Ethical Code and Ethical Guidelines.
Due to the lack of real-time, two-way interaction with a doctor during the consultation, patients could potentially give false or inaccurate responses without verification by the doctor, and obtain an MC without appropriate clinical assessment, said MOH.
It added: “Patients who require a proper consultation may also not obtain the appropriate clinical assessment to manage their medical conditions.”
Medstar is currently licensed to provide outpatient medical services.
The consultation services provided by the clinic through PocketCare without using audiovisual communications may be a violation of Regulation 30 under the Heathcare Services (Outpatient Medical Service) Regulations 2023, said MOH.
The regulation states that a licensee may only provide outpatient medical services remotely to first-time patients in real time and through two-way interactive audiovisual communications.
PocketCare had also featured claims on its website that patients could “Get Your MC or Get a Refund”, said MOH, adding that investigations are ongoing to establish if this statement contravenes the Healthcare Services (Advertisement) Regulations 2021.
A check by The Straits Times on Feb 23 found that the home page of PocketCare has been replaced by a maintenance page.
The clinic has been issued a notice of the Director-General of Health’s intention to take regulatory action against the clinic’s consultation services, said the ministry.
This includes a possible three-month suspension of the clinic’s remote services and the need to modify its consultation services to be compliant with regulations before it can resume such services.
