Page 18 - Part 1 Introduction to Telemedicine

SVMIC Introduction to Telemedicine

accelerating. Technologies that were innovative just 10 years ago

are being superseded by ones that are faster, cheaper and more
versatile and are also available to entire populations, rather than

just a few technologically privileged ones.

The wholesale democratization of e-communication has social and

historical significance comparable to the invention of the printing

press. It (literally) has revolutionary impact around the world. Not
just healthcare, but many human institutions (education, law

enforcement, journalism, banking, entertainment, gambling, ect.)
are grappling with technology moving faster than policy makers

can react. Regulators still tend to conceive of telemedicine under

the somewhat quaint model of remote television, when this is
already out of date.

Nevertheless, for healthcare providers, there are just four basic
questions to ask yourself before engaging in telemedicine. Each of

these is discussed in more detail in later sections.

What channels will I use to engage with patients at a
distance?

Today, it’s almost impossible to imagine a practice without
telephone and fax. Even providers who eschew email often

participate in electronic payments, e-prescribing and electronic

delivery of test results. These realities make it almost impossible to
escape at least some of the legal, liability and payment issues

raised by telemedicine. Certainly, practices that have websites,
email addresses or whose providers (or staff) use social media,

even for personal use, need to be fully aware of the liability these
media entail.

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