What participation requires.
These are the obligations that come with a DropDr profile. None of them replace the duties your registering body already places on you — they exist so that patients can rely on every profile on the platform equally.
Six commitments
Practise within your registration
Hold current registration with the body that governs your profession, and keep it current.
Stay within your scope
Consult only on matters your qualification and scope cover. Refer onward when something falls outside it.
Represent yourself accurately
Your category, qualifications, languages and areas of practice must be true and current.
Protect patient information
Handle personal and health information in line with POPIA and your professional obligations.
POPIA noticeObtain informed consent
Explain the limitations of remote care before consulting and record that the patient understood.
Honour your availability
If you appear as available, be available. If you accept a booking, attend it.
Remote care has limits worth stating out loud.
The HPCSA's telemedicine guidance expects practitioners to consult remotely only where it is in the patient's best interest and where confidentiality can be maintained.
- Consult remotely only where it serves the patient's interest
- Tell the patient plainly what a remote consultation cannot assess
- Record consent to the limitations before proceeding
- Escalate to in-person care where the situation warrants it
- Maintain confidentiality on your side of the connection too
- Keep clinical records to the same standard as in your rooms
Informed consent
A patient should understand what they are agreeing to before a remote consultation begins.
Clinical records
Notes, prescriptions and outcomes recorded to the same standard you would apply in person.
Escalation
Where a patient needs in-person assessment or emergency care, say so clearly and immediately.
Emergency informationConduct that ends participation
Rare, but worth stating plainly so nobody is surprised.
Misrepresenting credentials
Claiming a qualification, registration or scope you do not hold.
Practising with lapsed registration
Consulting while your registration with your governing body is not current.
Mishandling patient information
Sharing, exporting or retaining patient information outside your obligations.
Consulting outside your scope
Treating conditions your qualification and registration do not cover.
Repeated failure to attend
Accepting bookings and not attending, or appearing available and not responding.
Discrimination or abuse
Refusing or degrading care on the basis of who a patient is.
What DropDr owes you in return
No interference in clinical decisions
What you prescribe, refer or advise is yours. DropDr does not review or override it.
Transparent commercial terms
Applicable payment and platform terms are disclosed during onboarding.
How pricing worksProtection on home visits
Funds held until delivery is confirmed, and patients verified before they can book a visit.
Home visitsA clear complaints route
Platform complaints handled by DropDr; clinical matters left to your registering body.
Contact usWhat happens if my registration lapses?
Your ability to appear as available is blocked until current registration is confirmed. This is automatic rather than discretionary.
Can I consult outside my scope of practice?
No. Your scope is defined by your registration and your qualifications, not by what a patient asks for. Where a request falls outside it, refer — DropDr makes referring to another category straightforward.
What are my obligations around patient information?
You are a responsible party under POPIA in your own right. You accept a data processing agreement at onboarding. In practice: do not screenshot patient information, do not discuss cases on messaging apps, and do not retain information longer than you need it.
Am I required to record consultations?
No, and DropDr does not record video consultations by default. Storing video of clinical encounters creates a large and unnecessary liability. Clinical notes and the prescription are the record.
What if I receive an abusive patient?
You can decline or end a consultation where continuing is inappropriate, and report the patient. Professionals are not obliged to tolerate abuse.
How are complaints handled?
Complaints about the platform go to DropDr. Complaints about clinical conduct are for your registering body — DropDr does not adjudicate clinical practice and will not pretend to.
Standards you can practise under.
If these match how you already work, onboarding will feel like paperwork rather than compromise.