A photo illustration shows a stethoscope and blood-pressure machine of a French general practitioner displayed in a doctor’s office.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS
The Health Ministry’s National Medical Register (NMR) Portal launched recently is creating confusion among doctors about whether they need to re-register themselves in the new system to be able to work in the country.
The Union government, as per the latest provisions, has said that all MBBS doctors who are already registered on the Indian Medical Register (IMR) must register again on the NMR of the National Medical Commission (NMC).
“To start the registration, the doctor needs a digital copy of the Degree (MBBS) Certificate, the Registration Certificate of the State Medical Council/Medical Council of India, where the doctor got first-time registration. The doctor must also have the Aadhaar number ready to start the process,” noted the Ministry.
Speaking to The Hindu, Indian Medical Association president R.V. Asokan said: “Yes, they want us to enter our data anew, but we don’t know if it’s called re-registration. I had a talk with NMC and the only benefit seems to be that we can obtain a licence to practice in more than one State. What the Central government is asking us to do is registration, and the registration in the State council is called licence. We need to study more into the legality.”
Explaining the need to bring in NMR, the Ministry maintained that data on doctors has been stored in a scattered form and needed urgent revision. “Till date, there was a lack of comprehensive data that could provide a detailed and holistic picture of aspects like total numbers of doctors in the country, those that have left the country, those who have lost their licence to practice, or the numbers and details of doctors that have lost their lives. The launch of the NMR will ensure the provision of data of its more than 13 lakh doctors,” the Ministry maintained.
It added that NMR will be a comprehensive dynamic database for all allopathic (MBBS) registered doctors in India. The uniqueness of NMR is that it is linked with the Aadhaar ID of the doctors, which ensures the individual’s authenticity.
The entire process of registration in NMR is online and State medical councils are interlinked on the portal. Some data will be visible to the public and others will only be visible to the Ethics & Medical Registration Board (EMRB) in NMC, State medical councils (SMCs), the National Board of Examinations (NBE) and medical institutions (including INIs, etc.) and registered medical practitioners (RMPs) as per the requirements.
Additional details like registration and qualification credentials can be manually entered and submitted through the portal. Following this, the application is automatically forwarded to the respective State medical council for verification. The SMC would then forward the application to the relevant college or institute for further review. Upon successful verification by the State medical council, the application is sent to the National Medical Commission. After the NMC verification, a unique NMR ID would be issued. During this process, doctors can opt to join the Healthcare Provider Registry, which will link them to the broader digital healthcare ecosystem.
“Through this portal, all stakeholders, including SMCs and educational institutions, can log in and verify applications from a single platform. The NMR portal offers a variety of features, including the ability to add additional qualifications, track applications, suspend licences, and issue NMR ID cards and digital doctor certificates,” the Ministry added.
