TELEMEDICINE: THE BALANCE BETWEEN SAFETY AND EFFECTIVENESS?
Since January 1, 2018, it is possible in the Russian Federation to provide medical care with the use of telecommunication technologies. In this context, the concept of efficiency and safety of the innovation being introduced becomes particularly relevant. However, the question remains how long will it take to obtain the final result, i.e. the improved quality of medical care provided, if the essence of the «input data» (what is telemedicine, what is the responsibility of the parties in the event of controversial situations?) has no unambiguous interpretation and application. In our research, we used the following methods: a comparative method to differentiate the approaches in domestic and foreign literature to the concept of «telemedicine»; the method of deduction; the analysis of medical and legal literature. The provision of medical assistance by means of telecommunication technologies (telemedicine) should be understood as an alternative form of medical care organization, allowing remote observation of the patient's health dynamics by using IT applications. The conditions under which telemedicine services can be provided include: (a) relations should be established simultaneously between the doctor and the patient or between the doctors involved; (b) the patient must be diagnosed prior to the provision of remote medical consulting services; (c) the participants must undergo identification and authentication procedures.