New Delhi: The Medical Council of India (MCI) has directed all states to provide a unique permanent registration number (UPRN) to every doctor registered in their jurisdiction.
The initiative will put an end to the duplication of doctors registered by various state medical councils as well as the Indian Medical Register under the MCI and provide a clear picture of how many doctors are practicing in India. A UPRN number is to be generated for the over one million doctors recorded in the IMR.
“With this digital platform, we will get to know about the actual number of doctors and the list of medical specialists practicing in the country. We will have all the details about a doctor, ranging from addresses to personal details,” said Reena Nayyar, secretary-in-charge of the MCI. “Currently, we seek information about doctors from state medical council. Once all the doctors are given a separate code or UPRN, it will be very easy to trace them in a case of medical negligence or contacting for his/her expertise.”
The Indian Medical Council Act 1956 prohibits a person other than a medical practitioner enrolled on a state medical register to practice in the state. “As there may be several fake doctors working in the country without registration with IMR or state registers, the system will only identify those who are already registered with the MCI. For tackling fresh fake applications, we have separate provisions,” said Nayyar.
The MCI has asked all state councils to inform registered doctors to register themselves under the new single-window platform.
“The MCI has initiated the process of implementing e-governance through digital mission mode project (DMMP); one of the ambitious modules under DMMP project is implementation of new IMR through unique permanent registration number generation for each registered doctor in India,” the MCI said in a letter sent to the Indian Medical Association (IMA).
“On implementation of the system, the existing registration numbers of the doctors shall be migrated to a standard system of UPRN. Doctors shall also apply online for additional qualification registration in IMR like Post Graduate, super specialty etc. Doctors shall use the system to make online applications for services like issue of certificates etc.,” it further said.
Currently, apart from IMR, different state councils have their own medical registers. The MCI compiles data from state medical councils. In such a scenario, there are chances of duplication of data of registered doctors.