Blog Practice Virtually, stress free with Digi-MCs on Plato

Have you issued a digital MC and worried that your patient might photoshop it? Or has the MC’s authenticity been questioned by employers? Or have patients asked you to repeatedly reprint their MCs when they misplace it?

Plato is now integrated with a solution to these woes. DigiMC, a digital medical certificate system developed by Government Technology Agency (GovTech), is now available on Plato’s App Marketplace. With the DigiMC integration on Plato, doctors can issue verifiable digital MCs without signature from their Plato. More than that, DigiMC eliminates the need to reprint MCs for replacement. Decision-makers such as employers and institutions can independently verify the authenticity of DigiMCs submitted to them, on paper or paperlessly.

A simple yet elegant solution, DigiMC has proven to be user-friendly: 81% of over 9000 patients surveyed rated DigiMC at least 5 out of 6 stars, having found retrieving and sharing MCs easy and convenient.

Verifiable, without signature

When you issue a medical certificate via DigiMC on Plato, a signature is not required. Plato automatically populates key MC details and doctors fill in the rest such as the type of leave, to receive a unique URL, hosted on mc.gov.sg. This URL serves as the source of truth of the MC.

The URL, secured by password protection, can be shared with patients via email or SMS. When patients (or anyone with the link) clicks on the URL, they will be prompted to enter a password and taken to the MC page. Because the URL is hosted on mc.gov.sg, patients can be assured that the MC is authentic: it is like having a watermark on a paper MC. Patients can further transmit the MC with employers or institutions by simply sharing the URL.

Sharing, without compromising authenticity

Not only is the digital version verifiable, but so is the hard copy. The hard copy contains a QR code that, when scanned, redirects to the digital version of the MC. This way, the patient, or any decision-maker that is relying on the MC, can check that the copy in their hands is the same as the digital version issued by the clinic.

Beyond that, DigiMCs also eliminate the need for clinics to issue replacement MCs. Equipped with a URL, patients can independently print as many copies as they want. Or skip printing altogether, if their employer or institution accepts digital MCs.

DigiMC is helping healthcare operate paperlessly

DigiMC is one of the initiatives from the Smart Nation and Digital Government Group aimed at making healthcare more convenient, and the health sector, paperless.

Piloted at the National Heart Centre Singapore in 2018, DigiMC was subsequently rolled out to clinics in the public sector. Business Times reports that, as of late February this year, over 400,000 digital MCs had been issued.

Among the private healthcare institutions, Raffles Medical and Mount Alvernia Hospital are expected to use DigiMC in the coming months.

DigiMC integration on Plato will let you practice fully virtually, without having to worry about the administrative hassle of sending, reprinting or clarifying about medical certificates.

If you would like to power your virtual practice on Plato with DigiMC, request a demo.

– Swathi Bhat