Doctors to earn credit points for serving at free health camps
Maharashtra Medical Council to award credit points to doctors for free health camp services, encouraging voluntary care in underserved areas.
The Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) will now award credit points to registered medical practitioners who provide medical and surgical services at free health camps in urban, rural, and tribal areas. The initiative will be implemented later this month (February), officials said.
The decision was taken following directions from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. “To encourage medical practitioners to engage more in voluntary services to the society, I strongly recommend further modifications in the continuous medical education system to specifically consider, acknowledge and reward voluntary services by the medical practitioners,” said Fadnavis, in a letter dated January 16, to president of MMC, a copy of which Hindustan Times has seen.
Dr Vinky Rughwani, administrator of MMC, informed that the council will soon release a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) outlining the guidelines.
“All registered medical practitioners providing voluntary free services during free healthcare camps will be eligible,” he said.
Many people in remote areas suffer from serious diseases but cannot afford to travel to cities for expert treatment or neglect the symptoms. With the new system, patients in villages and slums will see experienced doctors—including specialists in heart disease, cancer, orthopaedics, gynaecology and paediatrics amongst others. This will also cut down morbidity and mortality due to early identification and early treatment, said the officials.
Sharad Shetty, health activist, said, “This will encourage more doctors, especially specialists, to reach out to patients in need. Many patients in villages of tribal areas never get to see a cardiologist or a cancer specialist. These health camps can be a lifesaver for them.”.
Currently, Maharashtra has 1.94 lakh registered medical practitioners (RMPs), and to renew their licenses every five years, they must earn 30 credit points. These points are usually earned through Continued Medical Education (CME) or Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programmes, but now, doctors can earn them by serving at free health camps.
“The credit point for a three hour of CME is one point and for the health camp, the same rule will be applied. We will give one credit point for three hours of medical or surgical service provided by a doctor during a free health camp. However, the health camp has to be free of cost,” said Dr Rughwani.
Dr Sanjay Patil, national secretary of Hospital Board of India, said, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) doctors are already giving services in rural areas through health camps. “All IMA members regularly organise free health check-up camps at various places. If they get CPD points in addition it will be beneficial for the doctors as their feelings have always been towards the betterment of society. The objective of camps is early identification of undiagnosed illness and put patients on treatment,” he said.