A doctor in India can prescribe certain medicines to a brand-new patient on a video call, but not on a phone call with the same patient. Some drugs, including phenobarbitone and methylphenidate, can't be prescribed remotely at all, however many times the doctor has seen the patient. Rules like these should decide which telemedicine software for Indian clinics you buy, far more than video resolution.
The rules your software has to fit around
Telemedicine in India runs on the Telemedicine Practice Guidelines released on 25 March 2020, during the first COVID lockdown. The Board of Governors that had replaced the Medical Council of India issued them, drafted with NITI Aayog, and they now apply to registered medical practitioners under the National Medical Commission. Three parts of them affect software directly.
Identity on both sides. The guidelines say the identities of both the patient and the registered medical practitioner must be established and verified before the consultation starts. Software should capture this as a step in the call flow, such as name, age, and a phone or ABHA-linked check, so it doesn't depend on the doctor remembering to ask.
Records like an in-person visit. The guidelines say all records of a teleconsultation should be kept the same way as for an in-person visit. That includes the chat, any images the patient sent and the prescription, stored against the patient's file.
What you can prescribe, and when. Medicines fall into four groups. List O covers over-the-counter medicines, which can be prescribed in any mode at any consultation. List A medicines can be prescribed at a first consultation only if it happens over video, and re-prescribed at follow-ups.
List B is for add-on medicines given to a patient already under treatment, and these can be prescribed only at a follow-up. The Prohibited list covers drugs under Schedule X and substances covered by the NDPS Act, which can't be prescribed by teleconsultation at all.
Reviews in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry list examples of prohibited drugs, including most benzodiazepines, phenobarbitone and methylphenidate. Psychiatrists and neurologists should read those rules closely before moving follow-ups online.
What a consumer video app doesn't give you
A general video app handles the call and nothing else. There's no identity step, no record saved to the patient's file, and nothing stopping a prescription that breaks the list rules. The doctor ends up doing a compliant consultation by memory and paperwork afterwards.
Purpose-built software should link the steps. If the consultation mode is audio or chat, the prescription screen should warn before a List A drug goes out on a first consult. If a drug is on the prohibited list, the software should block it or at least demand an explicit override. The guidelines don't require software to do this, but it's the main reason to pay for telemedicine software at all.
Where it fits in a clinic's week
Teleconsultation works best for the visits that don't need your hands: reviewing a lipid profile, adjusting a diabetic's metformin dose after a glucose log, a post-operative wound check with a clear photo, a repeat prescription for a stable hypothyroid patient. The guidelines allow first consultations too. Many doctors still prefer to see a new patient in person once and use video for what follows. The guidelines leave that choice to the doctor's professional judgment, and some presentations (chest pain, an acute abdomen) belong in a clinic or emergency room regardless.
A workable pattern is to hold dedicated tele-slots, say 4 to 5 pm, bookable through the same online appointment system as your OPD, so remote patients don't disrupt the walk-in queue.
Data protection is about to matter more
Health data travelling over video and chat is personal data under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. The DPDP Rules, 2025 were notified in November 2025 with an 18-month phase-in, so the main obligations for organisations handling personal data, including security safeguards and telling people about breaches, apply from around May 2027. Ask vendors now where consultation recordings and chat images are stored, who can access them, and how a breach would be reported.
Video consults inside ExaHealth
ExaHealth builds video consultations into the same system as the clinic's OPD. The doctor writes the prescription while still on the call, selecting each medicine from a list instead of typing it out, and any drug interaction is flagged before the prescription is sent. Chat and screen sharing sit in the call window, and session notes are saved automatically against the patient. Patients on weak connections can switch to a low-bandwidth mode, and the prescription reaches them as a PDF on WhatsApp. Data is encrypted and hosted in India on AWS Mumbai, and the system keeps a log of who opened each record. Run the checklist below on ExaHealth as you would on any other product, the prescribing tests in particular.
Setup checklist
Before you switch it on for patients:
- Run a test consultation with a colleague acting as a new patient on audio only. Try to prescribe a List A medicine and see whether the software stops you.
- Try to prescribe a Schedule X drug on video. It should be blocked or need an explicit override.
- Check that the call record, chat, images and prescription appear in the patient's file without anyone uploading them.
- Drop the call on purpose halfway through. When you reconnect, are the notes you'd typed still there?
- Join from a budget Android phone on mobile data, not the clinic Wi-Fi. That's closer to how many of your patients will join.
- Confirm your registration number and clinic details print correctly on the e-prescription.
- Get a written answer on where data is stored and what the breach process is.
Step 4 rarely comes up in a sales demo. If a call drops before notes are saved, the doctor has to reconstruct the visit later from memory, and a record written that way is harder to rely on. Whichever software you shortlist, run all seven steps yourself before a single patient joins, because the prescribing rules and the record-keeping rules apply to you, not to the vendor.
Video consults and e-prescriptions in one system: see ExaHealth's features for doctors.
Related reading: Consultation Software: Running a Faster, Paperless OPD and Best Clinic App for Doctors: What to Look For in 2026.
Sources and further reading
- Telemedicine Practice Guidelines of India: a review, PubMed Central
- MoHFW: Telemedicine Practice Guidelines, 2020 (PDF)
- Indian Journal of Psychiatry: Telemedicine Practice Guidelines of India, 2020 and their implications
- Press Information Bureau: DPDP Rules, 2025 notified (November 2025)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is teleconsultation legal for doctors in India?
Yes. The Telemedicine Practice Guidelines, released on 25 March 2020 and now applied under the National Medical Commission, allow registered medical practitioners to consult by video, audio or text, subject to rules on identification, records and prescribing.
Which medicines can't be prescribed over telemedicine?
Drugs on the Prohibited list, which covers Schedule X medicines and substances under the NDPS Act. They can't be prescribed by teleconsultation in any mode.
Can I see a brand-new patient over video?
The guidelines permit first consultations. If you want to prescribe a List A medicine at that first consultation, it has to be by video, not audio or chat. Whether a remote first visit is clinically appropriate is your call.
Does the DPDP Act apply to telemedicine platforms?
It applies to anyone processing digital personal data, which includes consultation recordings, chats and images. The DPDP Rules, 2025 phase in over 18 months from November 2025, so clinics and vendors should prepare now.