Telemedicine practice guidelines in India: what a clinic must actually do
2026-09-28 · MedSlay
Remote consultations stopped being unusual some time ago. A patient rings about a rash, a follow-up happens over video, a report is discussed on a call. India's Telemedicine Practice Guidelines exist to say when that is proper practice and when it is not.
This is an orientation for practising doctors, not legal advice. The guidelines have been the standing reference since 2020 and sit alongside your professional conduct obligations; check the current official text for the position that applies to you today.
Who they apply to, and to what
They apply to a Registered Medical Practitioner — a doctor on the national or a state register. They cover consultations conducted by video, by audio, and in text: chat, email, a messaging app. They do not create a separate, lighter category of medicine. A teleconsultation is a consultation, with the same professional responsibility attached.
They also do not oblige you to consult remotely. Judging that a case needs to be seen in person, and saying so, is itself a clinical decision the guidelines expect you to make.
The mode changes what you can do
The three modes are not equivalent, and the difference matters most when you prescribe.
| Mode | Good for | Limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Video | Closest to an in-person consult; you can see the patient and some signs | Needs bandwidth at both ends |
| Audio | Fast, works anywhere, familiar to patients | No visual information at all |
| Text | Leaves an exact record; good for reports and clarifications | Easiest to misread tone, urgency and severity |
Consent, usually implied
When the patient initiates the consultation, consent is implied — they rang you. When someone else initiates it, a health worker or a caregiver, you should take explicit consent and record that you did.
That is a low bar, and it is not the whole of your consent duty: what you then do with the recording, the notes and the contact details falls under the DPDP Act, which is a separate and more demanding question. See what DPDP means for a clinic.
What a compliant remote consult looks like
- Identify yourself and the patient. Confirm who you are speaking to — name, age, and enough detail to be sure. Your own registration number belongs on what you issue.
- Establish the mode and its limits. If the mode cannot support a safe decision, say so and convert to an in-person visit rather than proceeding anyway.
- Take a history as you would in the room. The consultation being remote does not shorten what you need to know.
- Decide whether you can decide. Advice, a prescription, or "this needs examining" are all legitimate outcomes. The third is often the right one.
- Prescribe only within the list your mode allows, and never from the prohibited list.
- Record it. Notes, the prescription, and the fact of the consultation, kept as you keep in-person records.
The prescribing lists are the part people get wrong
The guidelines group medicines into lists, and what you may prescribe depends on the mode and on whether it is a first consultation or a follow-up. In broad terms there is an over-the-counter list, a list you may prescribe from on a first remote consult, an additional list that opens up on follow-up, and a prohibited list — including narcotics and psychotropics — that is never available remotely, in any mode.
Do not work from memory or from a summary like this one. Read the current lists. This is the single area where a well-meaning doctor most easily ends up outside the guidelines.
Records, identity and fees
Remote consultations generate the same record-keeping duty as any other. Keep the notes, keep the prescription, and keep them as long as you keep the rest. Your registration number goes on prescriptions and on fee receipts. Charging for a teleconsultation is permitted, and a receipt is expected — treating remote work as informal because it happened on a phone is how the paperwork ends up thin.
Where MedSlay fits, and where it does not
MedSlay does not provide a video or audio consultation channel. It is not a telemedicine platform, and this article is not a pitch for one.
What it does is the part that remains identical whichever way the consultation happened: the prescription as a proper document on your letterhead carrying your details, the notes filed against the patient's record, granular consent captured and revocable, and an activity log showing who did what. If you consult remotely by whatever means and then need it recorded, prescribed and retrievable, that is what the system is for.
More on the prescription side specifically in e-prescription software in India.