Telemedicine Ethical Issues

656 Words2 Pages

Legal and Ethical Concerns/Issues
Telemedicine is a new comer to the field of medicine and it is the treatment of patients by means of telecommunications technology. Telemedicine is carried out in a variety of ways whether it is by smart phone, wireless tools or other forms of telecommunications. Examples of telemedicine include: 1) transmission of medical images 2) care services at the home of the patient 3) Diagnosis at distance 4) education and training of patients. The diversity of practices in what is known as telemedicine raises many questions and one of those questions, which is extremely important, relate to the safety of the practice and the risks involved.
There are a myriad of concerns related to telemedicine due to the inherent risks involved, which relate to the more obvious reason that most people would think of when the concept of telemedicine arises. One of the most obvious concerns related to telemedicine relate to equipment breakdown. Equipment breakdown is a serious concern to patients and doctors when it comes to telemedicine because in order for telemedicine to function properly it requires that all of the equipment to function smoothly because of the sensitivity of the problems that relate to what is being performed. Examination cameras, remote monitoring devices, digital scopes, mobile telemedicine carts and even surgical robots are all working in tandem in order to prevent the passing along of inaccurate patient information that can seriously harm a patient’s health.
The next problem related to telemedicine relates to security and private breaches. In order for telemedicine to work properly it requires that sensitive patient information be transferred from location to location that may be quite a dista...

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...physician and the patient must meet first in person face to face. In Florida the following must be completed before the any physician is allowed to begin telemedicine:
• A documented patient evaluation, including history and physical examination to establish the diagnosis for which any legend drug is prescribed.
• Discussion between the physician and the patient regarding treatment options and the risks and benefits of treatment.
• Maintenance of contemporaneous medical records that meet the requirements of Florida law.

References

Center for Telemedicine Law (2003, June). Telemedicine Licensure Report. Retrieved from http://www.hrsa.gov/ruralhealth/about/telehealth/licenserpt03.pdf

Fla. Stat. § 766.104 (2002)
Telemedicine License | State Requirements | Medical License Service. (2013, January). Retrieved from http://www.medicallicensedirect.com/telemed.html

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