Focus on: information technology. Telemedicine legal update 2004: reimbursement, the doctor-patient relationship, teleconsultations, and the legal status of digital images.

Telemedicine is the practice of medicine across distance via telecommunications and interactive video technology. Telemedicine is most widely deployed in the US Military, prisons, rural areas, and ships. This article reviews the current status of Medicare reimbursement for telemedicine, selected state legislation regarding telemedicine, the lack of formation of a doctor-patient relationship by teleconsultation between doctors and the hold that digital images are valid as legal evidence and legally sufficient medical records.