A website that issues Australians with sick notes from doctors for $19.99 has been condemned by the country’s peak medical association.
In a new marketing push, Dr Sicknote is targeting the nation’s 5.5 million carers with a “convenient and accessible” way of getting a medical certificate to take time off work without having to go to their GP.
However, the Australian Medical Association believes the online service is risky and ripe for exploitation, raising ethical and legal issues.
“It really surprises me that an employer would accept [a certificate from] Dr Sicknote as a legal document because there’s no treating relationship there,” says the AMA’s Dr Brian Morton.
Customers of Dr Sicknote fill in an online form, talk to a company doctor over Skype and quickly receive a medical certificate by email. The service is aimed at covering “minor or routine ailments” such as colds and flu, nausea, gastroenteritis and viruses.
According to a Dr Sicknote media release issued yesterday, “having to obtain a medical certificate is an unnecessary burden [for carers] when they should be focusing on their loved one.”
But Dr Morton says carers should only get medical certificates from the doctor treating the person they are caring for.
“The patient has to give permission [for their doctor to use their medical details to authorize carer’s leave] from a privacy point of view,” he says.
While Skype appointments can be a useful tool for consultations, they should be conducted by a patient’s usual GP who is familiar with their medical history and character, Dr Morton says.
He warns the veracity of medical certificates can be challenged by health care regulators.
Medicare does not cover the $19.99 charge for a Dr Sicknote certificate.
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