Telemedicine and the law

The delivery of medical services through the use of modern technology is proving of significant benefit, particularly in remote communities where transportation of patients and medical practitioners is problematic. Technical systems supporting telemedicine-based consultations have been available for some years and more recently diagnostic services such as pathology and radiology have embraced this new technology. While teleradiology and telepathology allow medical services to be delivered across vast distances from highly populated areas to regions of low population density, the same technology can also deliver services across national and international boundaries. Where the patient and medical practitioner are located in different jurisdictions, issues arise regarding the regulation of medical service provision and this has an impact on the registration of medical practitioners, mutual recognition of training and specialisation and the administration of medical service provision. The increasing specialisation of medical practice and manpower shortages in key practice areas would suggest that there will be ongoing expansion of telemedicine services in the years to come. This will require greater standardisation of medical education, together with an improvement in arrangements for mutual recognition of medical practitioners across national boundaries.