By Antonio Carlos Endrigo, IT director of Associação Paulista de Medicina
The newest resolution of the Federal Council of Medicine - 2,227 / 2018, which defines and disciplines Telemedicine as a way of providing medical services mediated by technologies - brought important advances to health care, by legitimizing already widely used technological solutions successfully in Europe, the United States and even in African nations.
The regulations in force until then were very timid, backward and kept the country on the margins of the development of Telemedicine. The balance is very positive and brings to Brazil the possibility to enshrine the entirety of the Unified Health System (SUS) for millions of citizens, currently victims of care neglect. Many patients are unable to attend due to geographical barriers and many doctors have idleness, as patients do not arrive. So, new technologies must accommodate this issue.
However, advances could be greater, bringing better prospects for remote assistance. The requirement of a previous face-to-face consultation, for example, could very well be waived in cases of simple consultations, as is already the case internationally. This is because the need for signed or recorded informed consent, to be kept by the doctor, ends up being a guarantee for proof of good practice.
In the European Union, 24 of the 28 member countries also have legislation on teleconsultation. Of these, 17 allow full remote consultation and only three with restrictions (emergencies, areas with a shortage of doctors and the need for a first face-to-face consultation).
In addition, the CFM Resolution missed the opportunity to revise Opinion No. 14/2017, which discusses the use of the WhatsApp application and the like for communication between doctors and between them and their patients. Despite being very efficient for professional issues other than other areas, the application is not suitable for medical practice.
Tools like WhatsApp were not created for communication between doctors and patients, although they are used for that. One of the problems is that there is no record of attendance. Or when there is, it can be modified, either by the patient or by the doctor, causing problems in the relationship.
In this way, the regulation opens up the possibility for technology companies to develop products suitable for the Health sector.
The regulations in force until then were very timid, backward and kept the country on the margins of the development of Telemedicine. The balance is very positive and brings to Brazil the possibility to enshrine the entirety of the Unified Health System (SUS) for millions of citizens, currently victims of care neglect. Many patients are unable to attend due to geographical barriers and many doctors have idleness, as patients do not arrive. So, new technologies must accommodate this issue.
However, advances could be greater, bringing better prospects for remote assistance. The requirement of a previous face-to-face consultation, for example, could very well be waived in cases of simple consultations, as is already the case internationally. This is because the need for signed or recorded informed consent, to be kept by the doctor, ends up being a guarantee for proof of good practice.
In the European Union, 24 of the 28 member countries also have legislation on teleconsultation. Of these, 17 allow full remote consultation and only three with restrictions (emergencies, areas with a shortage of doctors and the need for a first face-to-face consultation).
In addition, the CFM Resolution missed the opportunity to revise Opinion No. 14/2017, which discusses the use of the WhatsApp application and the like for communication between doctors and between them and their patients. Despite being very efficient for professional issues other than other areas, the application is not suitable for medical practice.
Tools like WhatsApp were not created for communication between doctors and patients, although they are used for that. One of the problems is that there is no record of attendance. Or when there is, it can be modified, either by the patient or by the doctor, causing problems in the relationship.
In this way, the regulation opens up the possibility for technology companies to develop products suitable for the Health sector.
Disclaimer: The opinion presented in this article is the responsibility of its author and not of ABES - Brazilian Association of Software Companies
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