By Dan Nissi

If you’re a medical professional looking to add telemedicine to your patient services, you’re on the right path. The telehealth market is reaching a tipping point, with 50 million Americans saying they’d switch their family practitioner just to have access to a practitioner that offers video consults.

But here’s something to think about before you “see” your next patient. As telemedicine adoption grows, so do the legal risks. While there’s limited case law for legal actions, it’s better to be prepared. Consider the exposures in your insurance coverage – particularly your medical professional liability policy, your general liability (specifically bodily injury and property damage coverage) and your cyber liability coverage.

Here’s where we see the biggest exposures and risks of telemedicine:

  • Licensure issues. This may be one of the biggest exposures as the physician must be licensed in the state where the patient is physically located. If he or she was not licensed in that state, the consultation would be an illegal practice of medicine based on specific State Medical Boards. Further, the professional liability coverage would not be in force because fraud/illegal activity is not covered by the policy. Historically, there has been little medical licensing reciprocity among the states, but the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact has made great strides in expediting the process.
  • Medical professional liability insurance. The policies themselves can be vastly different from one insurer to another. One 2017 survey of medical professional liability carriers made the point, as 70 percent of respondents didn’t differentiate telemedicine from traditional services in their policies even though 26 percent had telemedicine-specific coverage provisions. It comes down to such variables as types of telemedicine services being provided, in which states and the insurer’s general comfort level with telemedicine. It makes the case for consulting with your agent and getting you policy reviewed accordingly.
  • Cyber security and data privacy. These issues have only gotten more critical as technology permeates the medical profession, and telemedicine adds yet another wrinkle in complying with HIPAA and HITECH laws. System updates are a given and so are data backups and data encryption, especially given the high value placed on personal health information on the web. Also, ensure the confidentiality of your video consults. Your protocols for conducting them should include encryption as well as a private, closed-door room. Any infiltration or lack of compliance could lead to a hefty cyber insurance claim or fines.
  • Informed consent. Just as you explain to a patient before a surgery what could go wrong, you similarly need the same dialogue with your telemedicine patients. Make sure they understand this is a new technology, explain its potential risks and their rights and discuss limitations that are beyond the physician’s control. By managing your patients’ expectations, you’ll also be managing an exposure for malpractice claims.

Telemedicine is becoming increasingly attractive to physicians and patients alike, especially as technology continues to improve. Healthcare professionals who are aware of the risks of telemedicine will be best positioned to benefit from it.

HUB International’s team is ready to help your organization respond to the opportunities and risks in the changing healthcare environment.