[Legal considerations of telemedical care]

Telemedical methods are on the rise in patient care. In addition to the actual changes for both sides in the physician-patient relationship, the use of information and communication technology also involves legal challenges. This article deals with the legal framework of telemedical care. Thereby the article discusses the prohibition of remote treatment (§ 7 Abs. 4 MBO-Ä) and the question to what extent the omission of a telemedical method of treatment can fulfill a medical breach of duty. A distinction must be drawn between the question as to whether telemedical monitoring shall be executed and the question how to use telemedical systems, in order to mitigate liability risks for the physicians. The physician can for example violate his/her medical duties by not sufficiently informing the patient about all essential circumstances concerning the consent, by not adequately monitoring the functioning of the telemedical devices, or by not reacting fast enough to telemedical occurrence reports. All this may lead to a case of liability.