Frequently Asked Questions

a. Telemedicine

1. What is Telemedicine?

iDOC Telemedicine allows you to receive diagnosis and treatment/prescription by means of a video consultation.

2. Is Telemedicine secure? Can my data be hacked?

All data is passed through encryption to prevent hacking and your video is not recorded on our system. We have not implemented video recording function in any of our software. The only visit record are the notes keyed in by the doctor and he/she can choose to keep certain information out-of-record if you wish.

3. What is the difference between visiting a Unity Telemedical Station and using Telemedicine on my device?

There is essentially no difference between the two modalities except when you visit a Unity Pharmacy Telemedical Station, you can register, consult and collect your medications all at one place. This allows greater convenience, especially if you already know what medications you want (contraceptives, etc).

4. Do I need to prepare anything before the video consultation?

If it is your first visit, a Photo ID such as a driving licence or NRIC is required. Subsequent visits do not require any identification cards but you will need identification when collecting your medications. 

No prescription, referral or medical certificate can be issued to anyone who is not using his real identity or assuming a false identity.

Other useful items to have include (optional):
Thermometer
BP machine
Glucometer (for diabetics)
Weighing scale
Adequate lighting/torch

5. What conditions can I use telemedicine for?

Suitable conditions to see a Telemedicine Doctor include:

  1. Cough and cold (improving/follow-up)
  2. Uncomplicated diarrhoea/food poisoning
  3. Common Rashes/Eczema
  4. Constipation
  5. Acid reflux and indigestion
  6. Uncomplicated urinary tract infection (dipstick recommended)
  7. Follow up elective consult
  8. Request for repeat prescription:
    • Contraceptives
    • Chronic/Repeat Medications

This list is non-exhaustive.

Telemedicine should not be used for

  • Extending MCs
  • Certifying fitness (physical examination is required)
  • Work Injury Compensation
  • Eye pain and foreign bodies in the eye
  • Ingestion of foreign bodies or foreign body in nose
  • Emergencies
    1. Sudden vision loss
    2. Severe/Persistent abdominal pain
    3. Profuse bleeding
    4. Acute stroke
    5. Sudden chest pain or shortness of breath
  • Repeated acute visits
6. Will my data be used for research?

As we will be working under the MOH Approved Regulatory Sandbox, we will be studying patient’s data at random but the data will be anonymized. This is for safety checks and balances.

Your personal data will not be used for social media or advertisements.

7. Is there a minimum age restriction?

You are required to create an account when you register on the site, which includes your email, password and IC number. To register, you must be of legal age to form a binding contract.

Age 16-18: presumed to be able to consent for medical treatment unless proven otherwise
Age 18 or above: may consent for necessary medical treatment

If you are not of legal age to form a binding contract, you may not register to use our telemedicine system unless accompanied by an adult.

b. E-Prescription and Electronic MCs

1. When will I receive my Prescription and MC?

You will receive your prescription and MC after payment is made. You may use your credit card or paypal account.

2. Can an electronic MC be forged?

Brick-and-mortar clinics and traditional clinics face the same problems with MC forgery, electronic or not. We have managed to circumvent this problem by providing a publicly available validation tool. The original MC details can be provided if the MC validation serial is available.

Our electronic MCs can be validated here.

3. Can I collect my prescription from other pharmacies?

The prescription itself is not valid at other pharmacies apart from Unity Outlets. This is to ensure that any patient will not print duplicate copies and collect at different pharmacies.

Attempting to do so is a breach of our terms and conditions and we may choose to set limitations or ban your account from the service.

4. How do I open my MC? I don’t know the password.

All your data is sent in encrypted format. A password will sent to you by SMS. You may use the latest version of Adobe Reader or Google Chrome to open the file.

Alternatively, just reply “decrypt” to the email (admin@idoc.sg) and we will send an unencrypted version.

5. What paper do you normally use to print your MC?

We use A5 paper for our MCs. If a physical copy is needed and you do not have A5 paper, you may cut an A4 paper into half or align the print job onto one side of an A4 and fold the paper in half.

6. Are the MCs same as the one received in the physical clinic?

Yes, the format and layout of the MCs are the same as the one received in the physical clinic.

7. What if I need to submit my MC electronically?

If you are submitting electronically, you may decrypt the file and remove security using Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can also print as PDF which will produce a non-encrypted copy which you can submit electronically.

If neither of the above works for you, just email us with the word “decrypt” and we will send you an unencrypted version of the file.

c. Technical Specifications and Payment

1. What browsers do you support?

No additional application needs to be installed. Just use one of the compatible browsers below.

Please update to the latest version.

For PC/Mac/Linux

We support Firefox and Chrome for PC/Mac/Linux.

Android

We support Chrome on Android devices.

iPhone/iOS

For iOS devices, please use Safari 11.3 and above.

2. What if the video call fails?

If the video call fails halfway, then the chat box may be used as an alternative. However, we will need to confirm your identification through video so if the video is not working at all, we would advise you to visit a physical clinic.

Please also use our feedback form to let us know what difficulties you encountered. It will help us greatly to improve our system.

3. I have more questions to ask but I have reached the payment page, what do I do?

On the payment page, you may return to the chatroom to use the chatbox to ask any additional questions you may have forgotten to ask. However, the doctor may take some time to reply if he has started seeing another patient.

After which, you can click on the button to return to payment whenever you are ready.

4. What online payment methods do you accept?

We use Paypal. You do not need an account to pay and most credit cards are accepted.

5. What if I closed the window on payment?

If you closed the payment window, we will send an email to you containing the payment link in 15 minutes.

The outstanding balance will be tagged to your account.

d. Doctors

1. Can I choose my doctor?

Yes, you can view the profile of your doctor before requesting for a private consult. Waiting times are stated when the doctor is on duty.

If you wish to make a telemedicine appointment, you may do it here. Select online consultation.

2. Are they real doctors? Can I consult with them in real life?

All our doctors are fully registered under SMC.

They can also be found in our physical clinics. Details on which clinics they attend can be seen under positions in their profile page. If you would like to see the same doctor physically, you may directly call the clinic to make an appointment during their duty hours.

3. Do all your doctors practice telemedicine?

No, not all our doctors practice telemedicine. We select doctors who are comfortable to see patients on telemedicine and ensure they are able to practice telemedicine safely and efficiently.

We also only select resident doctors who attend specific clinics regularly to see telemedicine patients. This is so that there can be continuity of care if the patient wants to return to see the same doctor physically.