The Rheumatologist
COVID-19 News
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
      • Gout Resource Center
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Resource Centers
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
    • Gout Resource Center
    • Psoriatic Arthritis Resource Center
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
    • Interprofessional Perspective
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
    • From the College
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • ACR Convergence
      • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
      • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
      • Gout Resource Center
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence Home
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Research Reviews
    • ACR Journals
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Image Library
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / Legalities of Telemedicine

Legalities of Telemedicine

October 15, 2015 • By Kathy Holliman, MEd

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF

The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) has appointed a workgroup to consider the questions concerning appropriate regulation of telemedicine. FSMB’s model policy about telemedicine states that even if there is no existing physician–patient relationship prior to the telemedicine encounter, the physician must be licensed by the medical board of the state where the patient is located.6 The policy also states that the physician–patient relationship may be established using telemedicine technologies.

You Might Also Like
  • Telemedicine Company Wins Order Putting Texas Remote Treatment Rule on Hold
  • Practicing Telemedicine Raises Legal Considerations for Rheumatologists
  • New Recommendations Support Effective Use of Telemedicine in Primary Care
Explore This Issue
October 2015
Also By This Author
  • Patient Education Videos Help Them Understand & Manage Their Disease

According to René Quashie, senior counsel at the law firm Epstein, Becker & Green in Washington, D.C., FSMB wrote the model policy hoping to loosen some of the restrictions involved in telemedicine. In a presentation at the Cato Institute in May about removing barriers to online medical care, Mr. Quashie says some state medical boards have adopted some or all of the recommendations of the FSMB, but there has not been enough support to pass the policy.

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact could help eliminate that barrier in states that choose to participate. In July, the FSMB received an award from the Health Resources and Services Administration to establish the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact Commission, which will create bylaws, rules and processes to be used by participating states when they begin expediting licensure for eligible physicians. The Interstate Compact will establish a voluntary pathway to streamline the licensing process for physicians who want to practice medicine in participating states, thus eliminating one of the significant barriers to multistate practice and telemedicine.

Free Speech Issues

The vet’s case, according to Mr. Rowes at the Institute for Justice, has implications for other free speech issues that are affecting physicians, ones that are “forcing physicians to say certain things or prohibit them from saying certain things that the doctor thinks are useful for the patient to know.”

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

As an example, some states have passed laws compelling doctors to tell their patients seeking an abortion about the age, size and other details about the fetus. He says there are a number of cases unfolding in the U.S. about whether or not doctors actually have a right just not to do that, not to become spokespeople for the ideological perspective of the government. If the doctor doesn’t feel that it is necessary to provide that information and the patient doesn’t want that information, does the doctor have the right not to say it?

“The outcome of these abortion cases depends on how courts treat the First Amendment rights of doctors in the doctor–patient relationship,” Mr. Rowes says.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 | Single Page

Filed Under: Legal, Practice Management, Professional Topics, Technology Tagged With: consult, Legal, patient care, Practice Management, rheumatology, Technology, telemedicineIssue: October 2015

You Might Also Like:
  • Telemedicine Company Wins Order Putting Texas Remote Treatment Rule on Hold
  • Practicing Telemedicine Raises Legal Considerations for Rheumatologists
  • New Recommendations Support Effective Use of Telemedicine in Primary Care
  • Telemedicine: One Rheumatologist’s Experience

Rheumatology Research Foundation

The Foundation is the largest private funding source for rheumatology research and training in the U.S.

Learn more »

American College of Rheumatology

Visit the official website for the American College of Rheumatology.

Visit the ACR »

ACR Convergence

Don’t miss rheumatology’s premier scientific meeting for anyone involved in research or the delivery of rheumatologic care or services.

Visit the ACR Convergence site »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2022 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)