Page 10 - Part 1 Introduction to Telemedicine

SVMIC Introduction to Telemedicine

circumscribed by that rubric. The scope of this course is narrower

than a comprehensive review of the full panoply of electronic
healthcare communications today, let alone those impending

tomorrow. Readers will not find the discussion here they may wish,
if their concerns are about applications in clinical informatics

beyond the borders of today’s definitions.

The telemedicine revolution encourages providers in every
specialty and setting to investigate the impact of telemedical

services upon, and potential benefits for, their practices. The
technical challenges of what might be called “Telemedicine 1.0”

(real-time, audiovisual communication and data sharing between

medical experts and patients) have been solved; or are at least
fully understood. “Telemedicine 2.0” (remote, robotically-assisted

services and procedures) are more than imminent. Services that
once required an intimidating investment in hardware and support

are now as cheap and available as social media. It has been

speculated that virtual physician visits could outnumber traditional,
face-to-face patient visits by 2025.
1

The marriage of electronic communication with healthcare has
produced a family of innovations that are disrupting traditional

patterns of care delivery dramatically and permanently. This

course will survey:

 Telemedicine use cases, applications and platforms

 The legal and regulatory framework for the practice of

telemedicine in the U.S.

 Professional liability risks associated with telemedicine

1 Dorsey ER, Glidden AM, Holloway MR Birbeck GL and Schwamm LH. 2018. Teleneurology and mobile
technologies: the future of neurological care. Nature Reviews Neurology, 14:285-297.

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