Wu Hsing-Hao
Department of Financial and Economic Law, National University of Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Med Law. 2008 Dec;27(4):775-85.
In the face of the information age, Internet and telecommunication technologies have been widely applied in various settings. These innovational technologies have been used in the areas of e-commerce, long distance learning programs, entertainment, e-government, and so on. In recent years, the evolution of Internet technology is also pervading the health care industry. This dramatic trend may significantly alter traditional medical practice as well as the means of delivery of health care. The idea of telemedicine is to use modern information technology as a means or platform to deliver health care service in remote areas and to manage medical information in digitalized forms. The progress of developing telemedicine, however, is rather slow. The main reason for this slow progress is not technological but rather legal. Health care providers are reluctant to promote this innovation in medical service mainly due to uncertain legal consequences and ethical concerns. Although there are many legal challenges surrounding telemedicine, this note will examine major legal issues including licensure, malpractice liability, and privacy protection. Furthermore, I will discuss the potential of applying telemedicine programs in Taiwan's National Health Insurance Program (hereinafter referred to as NHI).
面对信息时代，互联网和电信技术已在各种场景中得到广泛应用。这些创新技术已被用于电子商务、远程学习项目、娱乐、电子政务等领域。近年来，互联网技术的发展也正渗透到医疗行业。这一显著趋势可能会极大地改变传统医疗实践以及医疗保健的提供方式。远程医疗的理念是利用现代信息技术作为手段或平台，在偏远地区提供医疗保健服务，并以数字化形式管理医疗信息。然而，远程医疗的发展进程相当缓慢。这一缓慢进展的主要原因并非技术问题，而是法律问题。医疗保健提供者不愿推广这项医疗服务创新，主要是由于不确定的法律后果和伦理担忧。尽管围绕远程医疗存在诸多法律挑战，但本笔记将审视包括执照许可、医疗过失责任和隐私保护在内的主要法律问题。此外，我还将探讨在台湾地区国民健康保险计划（以下简称“健保”）中应用远程医疗项目的潜力。
