Telemedicine and telehealth are innovative practices in which technology is used to diagnose, treat, assess, monitor, communicate and educate patients (Furrow, Greaney, Johnson, Stoltzfus Jost, & Schwartz, 2015). These practices are considered cutting edge as the technology didn’t exist to provide such services in the past, even just a few years ago. Telemedicine and telehealth are controversial as they have risks of liability not seen in traditional face-to-face medicine, challenges exist in complying with licensure and state statutes, as these vary by state. There is controversy with telehealth and telemedicine regarding the legal stand of care as to when a doctor-patient relationship is technically established.
The liability risks surround quality of care, quality of technology, training, and litigation (Furrow, et al., 2015). Licensure and professional accountability, normally upheld by each state’s professional board, becomes challenging with cross-state practice (National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 2017). Physicians have concern regarding what the courts will determine is considered a doctor-patient relationship in which they …show more content…
Since then, my organization has started pursuing telehealth services in rural and high-risk patient populations. For example, patients who are high-users of health care dollars due to poor disease management in diabetes, are sent home with a patient monitoring kit in which the provider receives real-time feedback on vitals, weight, and blood sugars and that uploads to the EMR. Additionally, we have started receiving consultation to and from our health system in providing care to our patients using telehealth. I know CMS’s fee schedule change in 2014 was a big proponent of moving this program forward at my hospital, but I hope to look into how my organization has worked through some of these other barriers and challenges
The liability risks surround quality of care, quality of technology, training, and litigation (Furrow, et al., 2015). Licensure and professional accountability, normally upheld by each state’s professional board, becomes challenging with cross-state practice (National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 2017). Physicians have concern regarding what the courts will determine is considered a doctor-patient relationship in which they …show more content…
Since then, my organization has started pursuing telehealth services in rural and high-risk patient populations. For example, patients who are high-users of health care dollars due to poor disease management in diabetes, are sent home with a patient monitoring kit in which the provider receives real-time feedback on vitals, weight, and blood sugars and that uploads to the EMR. Additionally, we have started receiving consultation to and from our health system in providing care to our patients using telehealth. I know CMS’s fee schedule change in 2014 was a big proponent of moving this program forward at my hospital, but I hope to look into how my organization has worked through some of these other barriers and challenges