LEGAL-ASPECTS OF TELEMEDICINE IN AUSTRIA

The rapid development of modern communication technologies offers new opportunities for medical diagnosis and treatment. In spite of the obv ious theoretical benefits of telemedicine, which have been proven by m any projects in practice, telemedicine has not become generally establ ished in Europe. Besides lack of technical standardisation and high pu rchase costs, one of the reasons might be the as yet unclarified legal situation. Taking the present legal situation in Austria we tried to explore questions of liability concerning telemedicine. The outstandin g point seems to lie in the contract between the participating physici ans on the one hand and between the physicians and the patient on the other hand. If the consulting physician is self-employed he has to tak e responsibility for any error on the part of the consulted physician. However, if he is working in a hospital, then he is legally considere d an ''Erfullungsgehilfe'' (person employed by the debtor in the perfo rmance of his obligation) an any further doctor consulted is automatic ally also an ''Erfullungsgehilfe'' of the hospital and therefore the h ospital takes responsibility for any mistakes made by the consulted ph ysician. Although there has not been any specific jurisdiction concern ing telemedicine in Austria, the present legal provisions are adequate for reaching decisions on questions of liability, so that there are n o objections from the legal point of view to the general implementatio n of telemedicine.