During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an exponential growth in the demand of remote consultation services worldwide to avoid infectious risks between healthcare professionals and patients. Locally, the Hospital Authority has provided large-scale teleconsultation services to COVID-19 confirmed patients. While there is hitherto no standalone statutory legislation in Hong Kong governing the practice of telemedicine, the Medical Council of Hong Kong has published the ‘Ethical Guidelines on Practice of Telemedicine’ in 2019. The Guidelines emphasized, amongst others, that the standard of care delivered by telemedicine must be at all times comparable to conventional in-person consultations and treatments. In order to reduce medico-legal risks, healthcare professionals are reminded to pay due attention to the following common pitfalls:
• Limitations in the absence of direct physical contact with patients
• Safe prescription and dispense medications
• Keeping medical records and patients’ data protection
• Literacy in digital technology
• Practice licensing requirements in different jurisdictions
In addition, it cannot be overemphasized for the institution to develop robust policy and procedures on patients’ identification, authentication, and consenting process, especially when the practice accepts using remote consultation for first-time patients.
