Document Detail


Telemedicine licensure in the United States: the need for a cooperative regional approach.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  17489700     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
The extraordinary successes and refinement of modern telemedicine applications in recent years have been diminished somewhat by the anachronistic licensure laws of the 50 state jurisdictions that limit the practice of medicine to specific state geographic boundaries. This approach is deficient when applied to telemedicine because, with the advent of the Internet and modern technological advances, differences in space and time are rendered nearly meaningless. It is recommended in this paper that the practice of telemedicine be handled differently than the practice of face-to-face medicine, as related to licensure. Although it may be argued persuasively that a national licensure model for telemedicine should be advanced, the political and constitutional hurdles may be too great to overcome. It is therefore recommended that a voluntary, regional geographic approach be instituted by jurisdictions already demonstrating a commonality of interests, such as through the Southern Governors' Association or the Western Governors' Association. The benefits to be derived from this approach would include improving access to healthcare and medical specialists, enhancing the quality and timeliness of care, cutting medical costs by moving information instead of people, securing patients' access to medical records and information, and facilitating commercial export of American telemedicine services.
Authors:
Mark A Cwiek; Azhar Rafiq; Aamna Qamar; Charles Tobey; Ronald C Merrell
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association     Volume:  13     ISSN:  1530-5627     ISO Abbreviation:  Telemed J E Health     Publication Date:  2007 Apr 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2007-05-10     Completed Date:  2007-06-05     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  100959949     Medline TA:  Telemed J E Health     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  141-7     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Central Michigan University School of Health Sciences, Mt Pleasant, MI 48859, USA. cwiek1ma@cmich.edu
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Humans
International Cooperation
Law Enforcement
Licensure, Medical / legislation & jurisprudence*,  standards
Politics
Regional Health Planning / legislation & jurisprudence*,  organization & administration*
Telemedicine / economics,  legislation & jurisprudence*,  standards
United States

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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