Legal ethical and risk issues in telemedicine

This paper summarizes the main topics of discussion at a workshop hosted by the Centre for Law Ethics and Risk in Telemedicine at the 2nd Internationa l Conference on Advances in the Delivery of Care, held at the institute of Health Sciences. City University, London from Wednesday 24 to Friday 26 Mar ch 1999. The workshop offered a unique opportunity for practitioners in the fields of telemedicine and shared care to discuss the legal, ethical and r isk issues arising from the practice of medicine and healthcare from a dist ance using information and communication technologies ('ICTs') with a panel of experts from the fields of medicine. law. insurance and risk management . There was a broad consensus that many of the legal and ethical issues rai sed by those who dislike the idea of treating distant patients were not spe cific to telemedicine but to medicine and healthcare in general. It was agr eed, however, that in those areas where telemedicine does create new clinic al risks and responsibilities a much more proactive role should be taken by the professional associations and Royal Colleges in providing better educa tion and guidance to their members about the practical and professional iss ues that will inevitably arise from the evolution of 'Hospitals Without Wal ls. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights: reserved.