Technology is improving and advancing fast. What was impossible just a few years ago, is becoming possible now. Nowadays, a physician can see a patient, interview him or her, auscultate, examine the skin, prescribe medications and document in an electronic medical record, without being physically by the patient’s side.
The first issue that needs to be brought up is the location of the medical act. It has been defined that the medical act occurs where the patient is located. This has consequences regarding licensing and regulations. As it is well known, in the United States, licensing goes state by state, so the physician has to be licensed in the state where the patient is located. This means that, so as the doctor is licensed in the state where the patient is located (and the state medical board is OK with it) the physician can be located anywhere in the world and see, listen and treat a patient.
A second issue is the question of insurance reimbursement. As of today, not all insurance plans reimburse for telemedicine services, although this is increasing by the day. The patients have to be aware if a service rendered by telemedicine will be reimbursed by a particular insurance plan if not paying out of pocket.
The third issue is that there are some specialties that are more ready for telemedicine, than others. For example, Neurology and Psychiatry have been using this services for some years. The surgical specialties (due to the nature of their service) have not quite embraced it yet. It is not impossible to think that in the future, a surgeon might operate remotely, using devices similar to joysticks.
Marco A. Ramos MD
