One obstacle involves reimbursement. While Medicare and insurance companies pay for diagnostic services such as teleradiology, most do not yet pay for other consultative telemedicine services. Cox joined the pediatric committee of a Kansas insurance company to help convince company officials to provide reimbursement for telemedicine. Medical licensing is another potential problem. Stachura notes for instance that he sees patients from both Georgia and South Carolina because his Georgia clinic is near the South Carolina border.
Medical liability is an issue, as well.
Or if compressed digital images are not reconstructed well, causing loss of valuable diagnostic information, a doctor could possibly face a malpractice suit. And, as in other areas, telemedicine advocates admit, the use of technology often means that things may not run smoothly every time. Brick recalls a time when the West Virginia telemedicine program switched to another phone carrier. We had people from the state licensing board there to view the equipment, and nothing worked. We discovered we had to reboot all the computers to make the new phone connection.