The legal and risk management conundrum of telemedicine.

A store-and-forward teledermatology service was established between two general practices and the department of plastic surgery at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth. An academic lawyer and an expert in risk management made an assessment of the service. They looked at the following issues: medicolegal problems; security; confidentiality; and risk. None of them was considered insoluble and there is no reason why such issues should prevent the National Health Service from developing telemedicine services. All organizations considering telemedicine need to ensure that the proposed telemedicine service satisfies the issues raised in this study.