On the legal possibility of making a diagnosis during remote counseling

Abstract

The subject of this study is the legal norms governing the conduct of remote medical consultation and the preparation of a medical report. The author examines the conditions for issuing a medical opinion during remote consultations in the formats "doctor-doctor" and "doctor-patient". The author also considers the issues of reflection in the medical report of the diagnosis based on the results of medical care in the form of remote consultation. Attention is focused on the discussion in the scientific community about the possibility of diagnosis using telemedicine technologies. The purpose is to study the problems of regulating the possibility of determining the diagnosis, the content of the medical report when organizing and conducting a remote consultation. The methodological basis includes a set of philosophical knowledge about the cognition of reality. These include general scientific research methods (analysis, synthesis, deduction, induction, abstraction, etc.), as well as private scientific methods. In the course of this study, special legal methods are also used, which is due to its specifics. The results of the work are expressed in the definition of conflicts and gaps in the legal regulation of diagnosis and its consolidation in the medical report. The scope of application of the results is law–making activities in the field of telemedicine. The novelty is expressed in the consideration of the above-mentioned problems, taking into account the legal norms of the current legislation. It is necessary to reconsider the prohibition on making a diagnosis within the framework of a remote doctor–patient consultation in the absence of a preliminary face-to-face visit to a medical organization for the same treatment. To do this, guarantees of the accuracy of such a diagnosis should be provided. This can be achieved by creating a standard of medical care using telemedicine technologies.