Recommendations for the use of telemedicine

Regulation No. 1/2019 is the result of a series of public policies aimed at the modernization and improvement of the health system by the National Ministry of Health and Social Development (“MoH”). For instance, through Decree No. 908/16 it was established the strategy for Universal Health Coverage, while Regulation No. 189/2018 of the MoH created the National Digital Health Strategy where the importance of a National Telehealth Plan is highlighted. Finally, and in the same line, Regulation No. 21/2019 introduced the 2018-2024 National Telehealth Plan (the “Telehealth Plan”).

According to the Telehealth Plan, telehealth consists of a discipline that involves a set of activities related to health, services and methods that are carried out remotely with the help of information and communication technologies. Meanwhile, telemedicine is defined in Regulation No 1/2019 by following the definition provided by the World Health Organization. Therefore, telemedicine is defined as the remote delivery of health care services by all health care professionals using information and communication technologies for the exchange of valid information for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease and injuries, research and evaluation, and for the continuing education of health care providers, all in the interests of advancing the health of individuals and their communities.

Within the Telehealth Plan, the National Agency of Information Systems created an advisory group made up of representatives from different key stakeholders, such as health, communication, technology, and education. This advisory group prepared the document named First Recommendation for the Use of Telemedicine (the “Recommendation”), which contains a series of recommendations and suggestions regarding six main aspects of telemedicine: (i) access, (ii) virtual meeting, (iii) environment and infrastructure, (iv) technology and standards, (v) training and research, and (vi) compensation.

The Recommendation advices on several issues, such as: the promotion of synchronous teleconsultation (distance communications in real time) to increase accessibility to health services in rural or difficult access locations; training of the members of the health team involved in telemedicine projects to use this technology; the inclusion of telehealth and telemedicine as a course in health sciences schools curricula; and compensation for telemedicine services.

Telemedicine continues its development towards a regulatory framework capable of guaranteeing a broader access to the Argentine Health System.