Telemedicine and virtual consultation: The Indian perspective.

Telemedicine was considered futuristic and experimental some years ago, but it is a reality today. It is now emerging as an important tool for convenient as well as specialized healthcare, particularly for patients in remote locations with limited access to standardized healthcare services. However, there are multiple challenges to realizing its full potential. We focus on some key medicolegal and ethical issues such as doctor-patient relationship, informed consent, rights of the patient, malpractice, and principles of confidentiality relevant to the practice of telemedicine and virtual consultation. We explore the global as well as the Indian legal perspective pertaining to the application of telemedicine. The absence of specific laws for registration and practice of telemedicine and virtual consul-tation in India acts as a deterrent for medical practitioners to engage in its potential use. Hence, there is a need for specific legislation.