Legalzoom featured Telemedicine: The Future of Health Care, by Los Angeles healthcare and FDA lawyer Michael H. Cohen, as the lead article in its Insight newsletter. In this article, telemedicine lawyer Michael H. Cohen describes the shift from doctor with a black bag to today’s physician who “is likely to arrive as a hologram…or maybe even a robot.”
Telemedicine is usually defined as a “medical service provided without the physical presence of a physician;” and similarly, telehealth is healthcare provided online.
However, these days medicine and clinical practice out moving not only out of brick-and-mortar onto the Internet, but also into mobile and even wearable technology. So health care delivery is changing and it’s much bigger than Obamacare. The healthcare of the future is telemedicine, and it’s also the future of humanity.
The legalzoom article describes several legal obstacles to telemedicine, including:
- state licensure, which blocks physicians from practicing in states where they do not have a license (although some states now allow a limited telemedicine license for physicians from a home state);
- standard of care limitations;
- informed consent requirements;
- HIPAA and other privacy, confidentiality, and security concerns;
- limitations on prescriptive authority across state lines.
It’s essential to deploy an attorney versed in the nuances of telemedicine law, especially when launching a venture crossing multiple state boundaries. Watch our telemedicine laws video, and contact our telehealth legal team for a consultation.
Contact our healthcare law and FDA attorneys for legal advice relevant to your healthcare venture.
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