Terms of Service & Privacy Policy

1. About BookDoc

BookDoc (bookdoc.clinic) is an online appointment booking platform developed and operated in the Philippines. It connects patients with registered medical clinics by providing a digital interface for requesting appointments. BookDoc is not a medical provider, hospital, or healthcare institution. We do not employ doctors and we do not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

2. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using the BookDoc platform — whether as a patient booking an appointment or as a clinic subscribing to our service — you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the platform.

These terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of the Philippines, including but not limited to:

• Republic Act No. 10173 — Data Privacy Act of 2012
• Republic Act No. 8792 — Electronic Commerce Act of 2000
• Republic Act No. 7394 — Consumer Act of the Philippines
• Republic Act No. 10175 — Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012
• Republic Act No. 11223 — Universal Health Care Act

3. For Patients — Appointment Requests

• Submitting a booking request through BookDoc does not constitute a confirmed appointment. All requests are subject to review and approval by the clinic.
• You will be contacted by the clinic to confirm, reschedule, or cancel your request. Do not go to the clinic until you have received confirmation.
• You are responsible for providing accurate personal information. False or misleading information may result in cancellation of your request.
• Only doctors whose PRC license has been individually verified by BookDoc appear on a clinic's booking page. This does not guarantee the doctor is currently in good standing with the PRC — see Section 6 for details.
• BookDoc is not liable for any missed appointments, changes in schedule, or failure by the clinic to follow up with you.
• Medical decisions, diagnoses, prescriptions, and treatment remain solely the responsibility of the licensed healthcare professionals at the clinic you are booking with.
• If your clinic uses the medical certificate feature, you may receive a PDF medical certificate by email after your consultation. The certificate is generated and issued solely by the attending physician. BookDoc acts only as a technical delivery channel and bears no responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or legal sufficiency of the certificate's contents.

4. For Clinics — Subscription & Service

• Clinic accounts are created and managed by BookDoc. Each clinic is assigned a unique subdomain (e.g., yourclinic.bookdoc.clinic).
• Clinics are responsible for maintaining the accuracy of their information on the platform, including doctor profiles, schedules, contact details, and availability.
• Clinics are responsible for following up with patients who submit booking requests and for confirming or declining appointments in a timely manner.
• Clinic accounts can accept bookings immediately upon registration during the free trial period. Each individual doctor must have their PRC license verified separately before they can be activated and made available for booking. Clinic account verification is optional but unlocks the verified badge and GCash advance payment features.
• Doctor limits are plan-based: The Free and Essential plans allow 1 active doctor. The Clinic plan allows up to 3 active doctors. Additional doctors can be added via paid add-ons.
• Doctor identity fields are permanently locked once their PRC is verified. Name, specialty, and education credentials cannot be modified after PRC approval. To request a change, clinics must contact BookDoc support at help@bookdoc.clinic.
• PRC-verified doctors cannot be removed from a clinic account unilaterally. Removal requests for verified doctors must be submitted to BookDoc support for review.
• Free Trial: A 14-day free trial is available with no credit card required. During the trial, the clinic is limited to 50 bookings per month. SMS notifications, the PWA install prompt, and custom clinic theme color are not available on the free trial or free plan. These features are exclusive to active Essential and Clinic plan subscribers.
• Paid Plans: The Essential Plan is ₱999/month and includes 1 doctor account and 1 staff account, plus email and SMS notifications, PWA install, and custom theme color. The Clinic Plan is ₱2,499/month and includes 3 doctor accounts and 3 staff accounts with the same feature set. Additional doctor + staff account bundles are ₱999/month; additional staff-only accounts are ₱250/month per account. BookDoc reserves the right to suspend access for non-payment. GCash advance payments are available to verified clinics at no additional platform fee.
• Medical Certificate Issuance: Verified clinics may use BookDoc's medical certificate feature to generate, download, and email PDF certificates to patients. The attending physician is solely and exclusively responsible for the accuracy, content, and legal validity of every certificate issued. BookDoc provides only the technical infrastructure for generation and delivery — it does not review, validate, approve, or endorse any certificate's medical content. Certificate records (diagnosis, recommendation, rest days, remarks, dates) are stored in the clinic's BookDoc account and may be re-downloaded or resent by clinic staff. Clinics are responsible for ensuring that certificates are issued in compliance with applicable Philippine law, including the Medical Act of 1959 (RA 2382) and any DOH guidelines on medical documentation.
• Doctor Signature Upload: Clinics may upload a scanned or photographed image of each doctor's signature for use on generated medical certificates. Signature images are stored in a private storage bucket and are never publicly accessible. They are retrieved only at the time of PDF generation via short-lived server-side signed URLs and are not exposed to the browser. The clinic is responsible for ensuring that any uploaded signature is the authentic signature of the named doctor and that it is used with the doctor's knowledge and consent.
• Clinics must comply with all applicable Philippine laws governing the practice of medicine, patient rights, and data privacy, including the Data Privacy Act of 2012.
• BookDoc reserves the right to terminate a clinic account that is found to be operating illegally, fraudulently, or in violation of these terms.

5. Medical Disclaimer

BookDoc is a booking facilitation platform only. Nothing on this platform constitutes medical advice, a doctor-patient relationship, or a guarantee of medical services. In case of a medical emergency, do not use this platform — call 911 or proceed immediately to the nearest hospital emergency room.

Medical Certificates: PDF medical certificates generated through BookDoc are produced using information entered exclusively by the attending physician or clinic staff. BookDoc functions as a technical printer only — analogous to a word processor or PDF generator. We do not author, review, verify, or take responsibility for any clinical content within a generated certificate, including but not limited to: the stated diagnosis, recommendation, rest period, fitness-for-work determination, or any other medical finding. The issuing physician is solely and legally responsible for the contents of every certificate bearing their name and signature. Any misuse of the medical certificate feature — including issuing fraudulent, inaccurate, or misleading certificates — is the sole liability of the clinic and the physician, not BookDoc.

6. Clinic and Doctor Verification

6.1 Two-Layer Verification System

BookDoc uses a two-layer verification system to ensure that only legitimate, licensed medical professionals appear on booking pages:

• Layer 1 — Clinic Account Verification: The clinic account is verified as a whole. This confirms the business or practice identity and unlocks the verified badge and GCash advance payment features. Verification is optional — clinics can accept bookings without it during their active plan period.
• Layer 2 — Per-Doctor PRC Verification: Each individual doctor on the clinic's roster must submit their own PRC license for separate review. A doctor cannot be activated or made available for booking until their PRC is individually verified, regardless of the clinic's own verification status.

A clinic's booking page is live and accessible to patients when: (a) the clinic has an active plan or unexpired trial, and (b) at least one doctor with a verified PRC license is active. Clinic account verification is not required to accept bookings but is required to enable the verified badge and GCash advance payments.

6.2 Verification Tiers

Clinic accounts are verified under one of two tiers based on practice type:

• Verified Doctor — for solo practitioners (individual physician practicing alone). Requires a valid government-issued Philippine ID matching the doctor's name. Only one doctor may be active at a time under this tier.
• Verified Clinic — for registered medical practices with one or more doctors. Requires a valid DTI or SEC business registration certificate. Multiple doctors may be simultaneously active under this tier.

In addition to the clinic-tier document above, every doctor under both tiers must individually submit their PRC license through the Manage Doctors section of the clinic admin (see Section 6.4).

6.3 Clinic-Level Documents Required

To verify the clinic account (Layer 1), you must provide:

• Verified Doctor tier:Your government-issued Philippine ID number, a clear photograph or scan of the ID (e.g., Driver's License, Passport, PhilSys ID), and the ID's expiry date. The name on the ID must match the PRC license of the solo practitioner exactly. If your ID does not have an expiry date (e.g., PhilSys ID), you may tick the "No expiry date" option instead of entering a date.
• Verified Clinic tier:Your DTI or SEC registration number, a clear photograph or scan of the DTI Certificate of Registration or SEC Certificate of Incorporation, and the registration expiry date. DTI certificates expire every 5 years and a date is required. SEC certificates do not have a fixed expiry — you may tick the "No expiry date" option in that case.

6.4 Per-Doctor PRC Verification (Layer 2)

Each doctor on a clinic's roster must individually submit their PRC license for verification through the Manage Doctors section of the clinic admin dashboard. This is a separate process from clinic account verification and must be completed for each doctor.

Required per doctor:

• PRC license number
• Clear photograph or scan of the PRC license card or certificate
• PRC license expiry date — required, no exceptions. PRC licenses in the Philippines expire every 3 years and always carry an expiry date.

Once a doctor's PRC is verified:

• Their identity fields (name, specialty, education) are permanently locked and cannot be edited without BookDoc support intervention
• They may be activated by the clinic admin, making them available for patient bookings
• They cannot be deleted from the clinic roster — removal requests must be directed to BookDoc support

Doctors whose PRC is pending review or has been rejected cannot be activated. Rejected doctors will receive a reason and may resubmit with corrections.

6.5 Document Storage and Security

All verification documents and sensitive files — including clinic-level Gov ID / DTI / SEC files, per-doctor PRC license images, and doctor signature images — are uploaded through a secured server-side processing route and stored in private storage bucketson our database provider (Supabase). Files are never uploaded directly from the browser to storage; all uploads pass through BookDoc's authenticated server, where the uploader's identity is verified, the destination bucket is validated against a strict allowlist, the file path format is enforced, and the file size and MIME type are checked before the file is accepted. Private documents are never publicly accessible and are retrieved only via short-lived server-side signed URLs (5-minute validity for previews; 60-second validity for PDF generation). We do not share these documents with other clinics, patients, or third parties except as required by law (e.g., subpoena, NPC investigation).

6.6 Document Expiry and Renewal

You are responsible for keeping your credentials current. BookDoc records the expiry dates you provide and displays in-app warnings as documents approach expiry. Once a clinic-level document expires, your booking page is automatically locked and patients can no longer book until you submit a renewed copy through your Settings page. Expired per-doctor PRC licenses will similarly remove that doctor from the booking page.

6.7 Review Process and Discretion

Both clinic-level and doctor-level verifications are reviewed manually by the BookDoc team, typically within 1–2 business days. BookDoc reserves the sole and absolute discretion to approve, reject, suspend, or revoke verification at any time, with or without reason. We may reject a submission for unclear photos, mismatched names, expired documents, suspected forgery, or other concerns. Rejected applicants will receive a written reason and may resubmit with corrections.

6.8 Independent Verification

BookDoc's "Verified" badge confirms only that we have reviewed the submitted credentials at the time of review. It is not a guarantee of medical competence, fitness to practice, malpractice insurance, or current standing with the PRC. Patients are encouraged to independently verify a doctor's standing at online.prc.gov.ph/Verification. BookDoc is not liable for any change in a clinician's status, license validity, or fitness to practice that occurs after verification.

6.9 Continuing Compliance

By being verified on BookDoc, you affirm and warrant that you will:

• Maintain a valid PRC license at all times while accepting bookings
• Promptly notify BookDoc if your license is suspended, revoked, or surrendered
• Re-submit verification documents prior to expiry
• Practice within the scope of your license and applicable Philippine law
• Comply with the Medical Act of 1959 (RA 2382), the Code of Ethics of the Philippine Medical Association, and all telemedicine regulations issued by the Department of Health
• Not misrepresent the identity, qualifications, or credentials of any doctor listed on your clinic account

7. Payments, Refunds, and Cancellations

7.1 How Payments Work

Some clinics on BookDoc require advance payment of the consultation fee before confirming an appointment. When required, payment is made via GCashdirectly to the clinic or doctor's personal/business GCash account using the number and QR code displayed on the booking page. BookDoc does not collect, hold, process, or have access to any funds. All payments are peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers between you and the clinic, settled entirely within the GCash platform. Advance payment is only available to clinics that are verified on BookDoc.

7.2 Reference Number Submission

After completing a GCash transfer, the patient must submit the 13-digit reference number through the booking page. The clinic will then verify the payment in their own GCash app and confirm or reject the reference. BookDoc only acts as a messenger between patient and clinic — we do not independently verify GCash transactions.

7.3 Cancellations and Refunds

The clinic is solely responsible for issuing refunds. If a clinic cancels a paid appointment, they are obligated to refund the consultation fee directly to the patient's GCash account. BookDoc will notify the patient of the cancellation and the obligation to refund, but does not itself initiate, process, or guarantee refunds. If a clinic fails to refund a patient, the dispute must be resolved between the patient and the clinic directly.

Patient-initiated cancellations: Patients who wish to cancel a booking should contact the clinic directly. Refund eligibility for patient-initiated cancellations is at the sole discretion of the clinic, subject to their own policies.

Refund tracking:After issuing a refund via their GCash app, the clinic must mark the refund as "Sent" in their BookDoc admin dashboard and provide the GCash reference number for the refund transaction. The patient will then receive an SMS and email notification confirming the refund details. This record-keeping is provided as an audit aid only; BookDoc does not verify that funds were actually transferred and is not liable for refund disputes.

7.4 Rejected Payments

If a clinic cannot verify your submitted reference number (e.g., wrong number, wrong amount, payment not received), they may reject it. You will receive a notification with the reason and a link to resubmit a corrected reference. If you sent money to the wrong GCash number, recovery of those funds is your responsibility and must be pursued directly with GCash and/or the recipient.

7.5 BookDoc Service Fee

For online payments processed through the BookDoc platform, a flat processing fee of ₱50is added to the consultation fee and paid by the patient. The clinic always receives the full consultation fee — the ₱50 is BookDoc's service fee. This fee applies only when patients pay online; cash payments and walk-in bookings remain free of BookDoc fees.

Patients will always see the total amount (consultation fee + ₱50 processing fee) clearly displayed before completing payment. BookDoc may update its fee structure in the future with reasonable advance notice to clinics.

7.6 Disputes

Any dispute regarding the receipt, verification, or refund of GCash payments must be resolved directly between the patient and the clinic. BookDoc does not arbitrate payment disputes, but may voluntarily provide records of system events (booking date, ref number submission timestamps, clinic verification/rejection actions) upon written request from either party to assist resolution.

7.7 Verify Recipient Before Sending

GCash displays a partially-masked recipient name (e.g., JU*N C***) when you send money. Always verify that this masked name matches the one shown on the booking page before completing your transfer. BookDoc is not liable for funds sent to incorrect numbers.

7.8 Tax and Receipts

Clinics are responsible for issuing official receipts (ORs) and complying with their own tax obligations under the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) regulations. BookDoc does not issue official receipts on behalf of clinics or doctors.

8. Privacy Policy (Republic Act No. 10173 — Data Privacy Act of 2012)

BookDoc is committed to protecting your personal data in accordance with the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (RA 10173) and the regulations of the National Privacy Commission (NPC) of the Philippines.

8.1 Information We Collect

From patients, we collect:

• Full name
• Mobile phone number
• Email address (optional)
• Reason for visit (optional)
• Preferred appointment date and time
• Consultation type chosen (in-person or online)
• GCash reference number you submit (when paying for an advance-payment booking)

From clinic staff and administrators, we collect:

• Email address and password (for login)
• Clinic name, address, and contact details
• Doctor profiles including name, specialty, bio, education, and schedule
• Consultation fees and payment settings
• Doctor's GCash number, masked account name, and uploaded QR code image (only for doctors who enable advance payment)
• Clinic-level verification credentials: for Verified Clinic accounts — DTI / SEC registration number, photograph of the certificate, and expiry date (or a flag indicating no expiry, applicable to SEC certificates); for Verified Doctor accounts — government-issued ID number, photograph of the ID, and expiry date (or a no-expiry flag, applicable to PhilSys ID); all stored in a private storage bucket accessible only to BookDoc reviewers
• Per-doctor PRC verification credentials: PRC license number, photograph of the PRC license or certificate, and expiry date (always required); submitted individually per doctor and stored in a private storage bucket accessible only to BookDoc reviewers
• PRC verification status and any rejection notes per doctor
• Refund tracking records (when clinics issue refunds): the refund GCash reference number, refund amount, and timestamp
• Doctor signature images (optional): scanned or photographed handwritten signatures uploaded by the clinic for use on medical certificates; stored in a private bucket and never publicly accessible
• Medical certificate records (when the feature is used): for each certificate issued — the patient name, date of consultation, date issued, clinical findings / diagnosis, medical recommendation, rest period (if applicable), custom recommendation or remarks, and whether the certificate was emailed to the patient. These records are associated with the appointment and the issuing doctor.

What we do NOT collect: We do not store, process, or have access to GCash PINs, passwords, full account details, transaction balances, or any other GCash account-level data. We only record the reference number a patient voluntarily submits, and the GCash phone number/QR a clinic chooses to publish for receiving payments.

8.2 Purpose of Processing

Your personal data is processed for the following purposes:

• To facilitate appointment bookings between patients and clinics
• To allow clinic staff to manage and confirm appointments
• To contact you regarding your booking status (via SMS and email)
• To relay GCash reference numbers between patients and clinics for payment verification
• To maintain audit logs of payment submissions, verifications, refunds, and rejections for dispute resolution
• To verify the identity and medical credentials of clinic accounts (Gov ID / DTI / SEC) before allowing them to accept bookings
• To verify the individual PRC license of each doctor before allowing them to appear in the booking flow
• To lock identity fields and prevent deletion of PRC-verified doctors, preserving credential integrity
• To monitor and enforce credential expiry, blocking bookings to clinics with expired licenses
• To generate PDF medical certificates on behalf of clinic physicians and deliver them to patients by email, at the instruction and under the sole authority of the issuing physician
• To store certificate records for audit, history, resend, and re-download purposes within the clinic's account
• To embed a doctor's uploaded signature image into generated PDF certificates, solely at the clinic's request
• To improve the BookDoc platform and services

8.3 Legal Basis for Processing

We process your data based on your consent at the time of booking, and in fulfillment of a contract for clinic subscribers. You may withdraw consent at any time by contacting us.

8.4 Data Sharing

Patient booking information is shared with the clinic you are booking with, solely for the purpose of confirming and managing your appointment. We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for marketing purposes.

We use the following third-party providers to operate the platform: Supabase (database and private file storage), Resend (email notifications), Semaphore (SMS notifications), and Vercel (hosting). Data may be stored on servers outside the Philippines, but we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place consistent with NPC guidelines.

8.5 Data Retention

Appointment records are retained for a period necessary to fulfill the booking service and for legal compliance purposes. Clinic accounts and data are retained for the duration of the subscription and up to 1 year after termination.

Clinic-level verification documents (Gov ID photos, DTI/SEC certificates), per-doctor PRC license images, and doctor signature imagesare retained for the duration of the clinic's account plus up to 3 years thereafter, as required for audit, regulatory compliance, and potential dispute resolution. After this period, documents are securely deleted from our storage. Clinics may request earlier deletion of expired documents at any time by contacting help@bookdoc.clinic, subject to legal hold requirements.

Medical certificate records (diagnosis, recommendation, dates, remarks, and related data) are retained as part of the appointment record for the duration of the clinic's account plus up to 5 years thereafter, consistent with medical record-keeping obligations under Philippine law. Patients may request a copy of their certificate records by contacting the issuing clinic directly.

8.6 Your Rights Under RA 10173

You have the right to:

• Be informed — know how your data is being used
• Access — request a copy of your personal data we hold
• Rectification — correct inaccurate or outdated data
• Erasure — request deletion of your data (subject to legal retention requirements)
• Object — object to processing of your personal data
• Data portability — receive your data in a usable format
• Lodge a complaint — file a complaint with the National Privacy Commission at www.privacy.gov.ph

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at help@bookdoc.clinic.

8.7 Security

We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. All file uploads — including clinic logos, doctor photos, GCash QR codes, verification documents, and doctor signatures — are processed exclusively through authenticated server-side routes. Browsers cannot write directly to storage. Every upload is validated server-side against: (a) an allowlist of permitted storage buckets, (b) a strict UUID-prefixed path format to prevent traversal attacks, (c) a maximum file size limit, and (d) permitted MIME types per bucket. Storage buckets additionally enforce their own file size and MIME type restrictions as a second layer of defense. Private files (verification documents, doctor signatures) are stored in non-public buckets and accessed only via short-lived server-side signed URLs — they are never exposed to browsers directly. Medical certificate data is stored in a restricted table accessible only to authenticated clinic staff. Appointment bookings and other write operations use server-side admin clients to enforce data integrity, bypassing direct browser access to the database. However, no system is 100% secure. In the event of a data breach that poses risk to your rights, we will notify affected users and the NPC as required by law.

9. Intellectual Property

All content, branding, design, and software comprising the BookDoc platform are the exclusive property of BookDoc. Clinic logos and names remain the property of the respective clinic. Unauthorized copying, reproduction, or distribution of BookDoc materials is prohibited.

10. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by Philippine law, BookDoc, its owners, employees, and affiliates shall not be liable for:

• Any medical outcomes, advice, diagnosis, treatment, or consequences thereof resulting from appointments booked through the platform
• Failure of a clinic to confirm, honor, or follow up on a booking
• Loss of data due to circumstances beyond our reasonable control
• Any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from use of the platform
• Payment-related losses: including but not limited to funds sent to an incorrect GCash number, payments not received by a clinic, refunds not issued by a clinic, fraudulent clinic accounts, mismatch between submitted and actual GCash reference numbers, or any other financial loss arising from the GCash advance-payment feature
• Verification limitations:the "Verified" badge represents only that BookDoc reviewed submitted credentials at the time of approval. BookDoc is not liable for: licenses that were authentic at review but later suspended/revoked/expired; doctors operating outside the scope of their license; forged or stolen credentials that passed initial review; or any misrepresentation by a clinic regarding the identity, qualifications, or practice of any doctor
• Loss of access during expiry: bookings being automatically blocked because of expired clinic-level or per-doctor verification documents, and any business impact this may cause to the clinic
• Medical certificate content: the accuracy, completeness, clinical correctness, or legal sufficiency of any medical certificate generated through the platform; any consequences to the patient, employer, school, or any third party arising from the contents of a certificate; or any misuse of the certificate feature by a clinic or physician
• Any service interruption, delay, or unavailability of SMS notifications, email notifications, or the BookDoc platform itself
• Acts, omissions, or misconduct of any third-party service provider (Supabase, Resend, Vercel, Semaphore, GCash, etc.) used to operate the platform

BookDoc's aggregate liability for any and all claims, however arising, shall not exceed the total subscription fees paid by the affected clinic in the 3 months preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or one thousand pesos (₱1,000), whichever is lower.

No medical licensing endorsement. BookDoc's verification process is an internal administrative review and does not constitute medical licensing, professional accreditation, or endorsement of clinical competence. We do not employ, supervise, or oversee any doctor or clinic. Patients are encouraged to independently verify clinician credentials at the Professional Regulation Commission (online.prc.gov.ph/Verification) before any consultation or payment.

Indemnification.Clinics agree to indemnify and hold BookDoc harmless from any third-party claims, regulatory actions, fines, or damages arising from: (a) their practice of medicine through the platform, (b) any inaccurate or fraudulent verification documents submitted at either the clinic or doctor level, (c) their failure to issue refunds when required, (d) any change in a doctor's PRC status after verification that was not promptly reported to BookDoc, or (e) their violation of any applicable Philippine law.

11. Prohibited Use

You agree not to use the BookDoc platform to:

• Submit false or fraudulent booking requests
• Impersonate another person, doctor, or entity
• Submit forged, expired, or altered credentials during clinic or doctor verification
• Harass, threaten, or harm clinic staff or other users
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the platform or its data
• Use the platform for any purpose prohibited by Philippine law

Violations may be reported to law enforcement and may result in civil or criminal liability under RA 10175 (Cybercrime Prevention Act) and other applicable laws.

12. Changes to These Terms

BookDoc reserves the right to update these Terms of Service and Privacy Policy at any time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated effective date. Continued use of the platform after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the revised terms.

13. Governing Law & Jurisdiction

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of the Philippines. Any disputes arising from or related to these Terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the appropriate courts of the Philippines.

14. Contact Us

For questions, concerns, data privacy requests, or complaints: