The Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) is developing a mobile application called ‘Know Your Doctor’ that will verify the credentials of doctors registered in the state. The app will have information about doctors and will be accessible to everyone, making MMC the first council to develop an app for patients. The decision to develop the app comes after an increase in unqualified medical practitioners treating patients. An MMC official stated that it is the need of the hour, especially since the pandemic, as anyone can claim to be a doctor with medical certificates and licences. Patients are also at fault sometimes as they go to doctors with more ratings on Google, compared to professional doctors with fewer ratings, he said.
MMC, a quasi-judicial body responsible for regulating medical education and ethics in the state, oversees approximately 1.8 lakh doctors, with around 9,000 registrations annually. Dr Vinky Rughwani, the administrator of MMC, said that the MMC will be the first council body to have its own app.
The MMC aims to educate people in rural areas, as they are most affected by fraudulent doctors. “Smartphones have reached every corner of India. Our application will help patients in rural areas know their doctors and their qualifications so that they are not fooled by fake doctors. We will create awareness about the application and provide training,” Dr Rughwani said. Dr Rughwani, who took over as the MMC’s administrator two weeks ago, is also working on fast-tracking all backlog complaints, including medical negligence cases.
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