Students able to obtain a medical certificate online

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A new service is  offering schoolchildren an absence certificate online after a video consultation with a doctor. The Directorate of Health can not yet say whether the service is illegal, but will look into the matter.

On fraværsattest.no students may pay 199 kroner for a certificate sent digitally or by mail to document absences in school, the newspaper Dagsavisen writer.

Entrepreneur, physician and director Christoffer Smith in eMedical, which owns the service, says that the basis of the offer is the introduction of the new absence policy in high school and the frustration of extra work this causes for GPs.

– Our goal has been to create a service that will improve resource utilization in health care, streamline a conservative system and cause the least amount of strain to patients and health care,  Smith in eMedical writes in an email to the newspaper.

Petter Brelin in Norwegian College of General Practice is not thrilled by the service, which he believes is not in accordance with good professional practice.

– It’s a totally bizarre solution to a contrived problem.

It becomes quite absurd when you do not approve a certificate from the mother and the father, but accept a certificate from a doctor who sits on a video link somewhere, say Brelin.

He is not willing to reply on whether the service is legal or not, but Kari Sollien, chairman of the Public Association, believes this clearly does not fulfil the requirements  put in place by the Health directorate  for writing a valid medical certificate.

The Directorate of Health informs the newspaper that they will examine the service thorougly.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today