Doctolib bangs his fist on the table.
At the heart of a controversy because it references naturopaths with questionable practices, Doctolib will strengthen the verification procedures for professionals referenced on its site, he announced Thursday.
The critics have particularly targeted naturopaths claiming to be Thierry Casasnovas and Irène Grosjean, two influential personalities in the field, but with discredited positions in the world of health.
The Order of Physicians asked Doctolib on Tuesday to strengthen its ethical rules for registering on the platform.
Faced with the controversy, the group had already indicated on Monday suspending 17 profiles of practitioners.
It announced on Wednesday, in a press release, that it had taken a “first series of measures (…) aimed at strengthening its procedures for verifying and reporting professionals referenced on its site”.
Read alsoDo naturopaths have their place on Doctolib?
Among them, he affirms that no appointment can “from now on be made before the verification of the right to practice of a health professional is effective”.
It will also clarify “the content of the sheets of unregulated practitioners by explicitly mentioning that they are not health professionals”.
A dedicated team will verify the identity of practitioners with unregulated activities
For practitioners carrying out unregulated well-being activities, which represent 3% of Doctolib practitioners and 0.3% of appointments made (including naturopaths), a dedicated team will check their identity and their presentation.
A first update of the homepage of the site was carried out, mentioning explicitly that they are not health professionals, ensures Doctolib.
Doctolib "in particular ensures that it is impossible for a patient to confuse between a practitioner exercising an activity in the field of well-being and a health professional", he specifies.
The site also announces the opening of a consultation with its Medical and Professional Committee, Miviludes (the interministerial mission to fight against sectarian aberrations), health professional unions, health orders, patient associations and the health authorities “in order to better regulate the referencing of unregulated practitioners” on the platform.
This consultation “will give rise to a new series of measures”, promises the site.