Legal Issues Related to Telemedicine
As an emerging technology, telemedicine presents many challenges to patients and providers. While many of these challenges are technical or financial, there are also some thorny legal issues which have kept some medical professionals from fully embracing this new health care platform. Whether it is cross-state licensing, malpractice insurance, prescribing medications or reimbursement, there are legal restrictions you should be aware of before you fully integrate telemedicine into your practice. State Definitions A foundational issue for many telemedicine regulatory bodies is defining telemedicine itself. It is critical that the scope of telemedicine is clearly defined so that insurers and payers are reimbursing physicians for appropriate services. While many industry groups and some state boards may use a broad definition of telemedicine, others, including the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services…