Digital health: the absence of a legal base

Jorge Murillo Balil, Manuel Jimenez de la Cruz and Igor Pinedo Garcia.

Telemedicine progressed in compulsory rallies as a result of the epidemic and the implementation of New technologies have changed the digital health paradigm in the National Health System (SNS). However, according to experts who gathered at the table The 43rd National Congress of the Spanish Society of Primary Care Medicine (Sermergen) On the “Health Protection in the Digital Environment” table, it is necessaryn The legal and ethical framework covering both clinicians and patients.

“The arrival of new technologies has made our work much easier, but it has not been without concerns. This new model of our consultations must be legally protected.” Manuel Jiménez de la Cruz, Semergen’s 3rd National Vice Chairman, explains in a joint appearance with Igor Pinedo García, attorney and legal director of DAC Beachcroft, and Jorge Murillo Ballell, attorney in the international health division of DAC Beachcroft.

“loss A rule that provides legal certainty as to what can or cannot be done. Digital health has come to exist and we must anticipate the conflicts that will occur with a legal and ethical framework,” claims Pinedo Garcia.

The government includes the goal of digitizing primary care in the Spain 2050 project, however, for now There is no standard for digital health. “The only thing that is there is the Ethics Act 2011, in sections 3, 4 and 5,” the attorney explains.

Camel in digital health

So far there are not many sentences regarding telemedicine. One of the few cases in which the doctor was accused of negligence occurred because the gynecologist did not put all the necessary means at the service of the patient regarding the accidental image she was showing. “This is explainable, because one doctor can tell you yes and the other no. Then the judge explains,” explains Pinedo de la Cruz.

Another sentence was issued through a telemedicine consultation as a result of the bleeding. “The doctor decided not to give him a face-to-face consultation and The judge understood that the professional deserved no blame Because the symptoms were not enough. Neither in medicine nor in law one plus one equals two. Everything has nuances and we can find contradictory sentences, ”explains Pinedo de la Cruz. In this light, lawyers recommend that doctors comply with the Code of Ethics and Medicine. “There must be something very rude to reach a doctor’s criminal fine,” explains Murillo Balil.

Moment from the table: “Protecting health in the digital environment.”


Lack of resources and training

Despite the lack of regulation, lawyers maintain that health protection in the digital environment is a reality. However, the effective realization of this right in all its aspects, as a right of the patient, and as an obligation of the SNS, is A challenge whose success depends on the ability to overcome obstacles.

“Lack of training for clinicians combined with a lack of regulation is creating fertile ground for digital health implementation in the NHS. We do not have sufficiently trained professionals or necessary technological equipment‘, details Murillo Balel.

For a lawyer, the main hurdles are the dearth of SNS digitization. lack of technological equipment; lack of an urgent digital plan; lack of awareness of health professionals; and the digital divide. We have a very important hurdle in accessing digital health. 43 percent of Spain’s population are not digital citizens.” A percentage added to that Only 9 percent of primary care physicians do not envision digital health in their healthcare routine.

Although it may contain statements, statements or notes from health institutions or professionals, the information in medical writing is edited and prepared by journalists. We recommend that the reader be consulted on any health-related question with a healthcare professional.

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