The North Carolina Medical Board (NCMB) is considering the adoption of a new policy regarding the practice of telemedicine.
The Board considered the draft proposal at their January meeting and the item was tabled to allow for further review by the NCMB’s Policy Committee. The proposed policy on telemedicine will be revisited at the next committee meeting in March. You can view the draft being considered here.
at 4:16 pm
Dear NC Medical Board
I would like to add to the commentary regarding the telemedicine policy. Some consideration should be made regarding the established patient/provider relationship: if the patient is an established patient of the provider or their practice, telephonic and or electronic consultation including diagnosis can be quite acceptable (with adequate record keeping, security etc). Where the patient is unknown to the provider is where more limiting policies seem more appropriate.
It might also be useful to distinguish between electronic or “distance” means of “treating a patient” versus those used for “consultation, diagnosis and prescription”. In the former, a dropped connection might be material (surgery stopped for example), but in the latter, it would simply take another connection to continue (like a dropped telephone call currently).
Thank you for your consideration and efforts!