Legal Considerations in the Use of Telemedicine in Neurology

Abstract

Neurologic disease, acute and chronic, is a major cause of death and disability in the USA and worldwide. As neurology advances as a diagnostic and therapeutic field, and with demand already far exceeding the capacity of the current workforce, teleneurology has been proposed as one means of extending neurologic expertise and best practices. The use of telemedicine for an acute stroke evaluation and management, termed “telestroke,” was developed in an attempt to extend expertise provided by stroke specialists. Over a decade since its introduction into the medical literature, telestroke is in the mainstream of clinical practice. A role for general, nonstroke teleneurology is not as clearly defined as it is for stroke care but active research and clinical implementation is promising for teleneurology. The legalities and legislation to date relevant to teleneurology practice are complex, outdated, or absent, representing a barrier to the use of teleneurology.