SINGAPORE - The Ministry of Health is looking into potential lapses by telehealth platforms in the provision of online consultations.

This comes after The Straits Times consulted seven platforms that offered popular weight loss drugs in July, and found two instances where cameras were not turned on.

Asked about this, MOH said cameras are necessary to establish a proper doctor-patient relationship, and to provide similar quality and standard of care as in-person medical care.

“We would have to look into these breaches, why they happened and if there were any mitigating factors,” said the spokesman.

Under the Healthcare Services Act, teleconsultations must be “conducted using two-way, interactive, audio-visual communications in real time”.

The operators in question told ST that they are reviewing the instances flagged.

Despite the lapses, the ministry pointed out that telemedicine promises a more efficient way to ensure healthcare becomes accessible and affordable.

“As with any new business model or technology, there will be lapses, even abuse, but we should still embrace it, regulate it, and make it work for the benefit of the public we serve.”

The telehealth industry has been in the spotlight, with the authorities clamping down on clinically and ethically inappropriate practices by MaNaDr Clinic. Lapses include teleconsultations that lasted one minute or less.

Separately, MOH and the Health Sciences Authority also sent a joint circular to medical providers on Nov 22 reminding them of the need to comply with telemedicine guidelines.

MOH and HSA said in a joint reply to ST that the licensees and clinical governance officers of telehealth services must establish and implement formal protocols and processes for teleconsultations.

The operators also have to ensure that all medical practitioners providing care through the teleconsultation service comply with them.

How the teleconsults were done

ST’s reporter signed up for weight-loss teleconsultations with Doctor Anywhere, Elevate, MaNaDr, Novi Health, Ova, Siena Health, and Zoey in July. Some of these telemedicine providers had started out in areas such as reproductive health, sexual health and hair loss.

There were weight-loss teleconsultations for only six platforms, as Doctor Anywhere referred her to an in-person consultation for ...