Telehealth is an emerging service that allows patients to access appointments via technology. Thus, the doctors can provide non-emergency primary care consultations and advice based on communication with the patient that does not involve in-person visits and, instead, relies on audio and video calls and messages. However, there are several limitations that facilitate telehealth to be secondary to in-person check-ups. Namely, the need for training of healthcare providers, the inability to access telehealth for non-tech savvy individuals, a lack of regulatory implications, and privacy concerns do not maximize the potential of the field (Sharma et al., 2022). However, as the healthcare industry progresses, telehealth can become preferred over in-person visions. Nonetheless, this can only happen when service providers are able to learn all the necessary measures, patients are comfortable with the use of devices for doctor appointments, and regulations and privacy concerns are addressed.
There are several legal and ethical considerations when it comes to telehealth. From a legal perspective, potential problems may occur when doctors with out-of-state licenses provide services to patients receiving care under a different jurisdiction (Lee et al., 2021). Moreover, prioritizing telehealth over in-person victims can be legally viewed as failing to exercise the standard of care. Furthermore, privacy concerns regarding medical records and confidentiality are also challenging to manage under the conditions that the communication is online-based.
The ethical perspective is likewise to be considered due to potential issues. For example, telehealth may be regarded as unethical since specific demographics, such as seniors, are less tech-savvy (Qin, 2021). Moreover, it is challenging to build a patient-doctor relationship based on trust and honesty via devices. This ethical issue can potentially lead to a lack of transparency and communication problems.
References
Lee, D. W., Tong, K. W., & Lai, P. B. S. (2021). Telehealth practice in surgery: Ethical and medico‐legal considerations.Surgical Practice, 25(1), 42–46. Web.
Qin, W. (2021). Adoption of telehealth among older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.Innovation in Aging, 5, 425–425. Web.
Sharma, V., Feldman, M., & Sharma, R. (2022). Telehealth technologies in diabetes self-management and Education.Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology, 193229682210930. Web.