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Doctors should also be able to explain the process of online consulting to patients.

Doctors should adhere to Medical council guidance 62. This guidance is detailed below and can be found at:

https://www.medicalcouncil.ie/News-and-Publications/Publications/Professional-Conduct-Ethics/Guide-to-
Professional-Conduct-and-Behaviour-for-Registered-Medical-Practitioners-pdf.pdf

62 Telemedicine 62.1 The practice of medicine through web-based telemedicine sites or
other telecommunication methods requires clear adherence to principles of confidentiality and data
protection. If you practice by such means, you must have strong security measures in place to protect the
privacy of patient information.
Web-based telemedicine sites must make their information policies clear to users. If you provide telemedicine
or other telecommunication services to patients within the State, you must be registered with the Medical
Council.
62.2 You must ensure that the transfer of any personal patient information to other jurisdictions complies
with data protection principles.

62.3 To help patients to understand telemedicine, you should explain to them that there may be
aspects of telemedicine that are different to traditional medical practice, for example a consultation
involving physical examination.

Doctors should explain to patients what an online consultation involves and offer the patient different options
such as video consultation or telephone consultation. It is appropriate to explain to patients that there is a higher
level of risk with video or telephone consultations. Safety netting is therefore extremely important at the end of
a consultation to signpost what the next steps should be if there is a failure to improve or a deterioration in their
condition.
Documentation:

Keeping concise detailed notes from online consultations is very important. Doctors should document in the
electronic health record of the patient the mode of consultation (ie. Video consultation). The details of the
patients presenting complaint. Subjective and objective information should be detailed. It is very important to
explore past medical history, medication list and any history of allergies. Patients can upload documentation
and files. It is important for the consulting doctor to check in the files section prior to consulting with a patient.
The doctor should give a summary of the consultation in the assessment section.

The care plan section should outline the management plan for the patient. This should be clear. Any prescribed
medication should be listed here in terms of name, dose, duration of treatment. Any follow up and safety-netting
should be outlined here.

If a prescription is posted, emailed or faxed it should be outlined here. It is the responsibility of the prescribing
doctor to ensure any prescription sent by fax or email is sent on a secure line and is in accordance with Data
Protection regulations. This should involve contacting the pharmacy (or having admin support staff contact the
pharmacy) in advance of sending the prescription to ensure a secure line is available and explain the need to the
pharmacist. A Healthmail account should be utilized for secure email.
Prescriptions for medication from a consultation can be generated through the patient’s Electronic health record
(EHR).
Click on prescribe link at the bottom of the consultation page. This will open the prescription form. The doctor
needs to write the name of the medication. Options will drop down. The doctor should click on the appropriate
medication. The dose, frequency, duration and pharmacy preference need to be filled. Most patients will list a
preferred pharmacy. The default is Pharmacy, Dublin. This must be selected to complete the prescription.

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