Telemedicine: Innovation, Competition, Development, and the Legal System

This policy essay examines telemedicine’s current risks, its potential growth, and its role in the health care marketplace. Telemedicine is currently rising in popularity as patients use the convenience of the Internet and its ability to expand the supply of doctors available to patients. Telemedicine is being used mainly as an alternative to “walk in” primary care, although some specialist care is possible. Due to the inherent risks that accompany treating patients over this platform, several state policymakers are rushing to make laws to restrain or slow the implementation of this technology. To explore what institutions and remedies must be implemented in order for this valuable technology to grow, this paper examines current and proposed laws for medical practices; laws and regulations that exist in industries battling similar risks and issues; academic papers examining the practice of and market for telemedicine; and recent articles highlighting the breakthroughs in medicine, mobile technology, and medicalpractice platforms.