My question involves medical malpractice in the state of: All (virtual)
Hello, I am a new doctor that will be getting my medical license soon and had some questions.
While i am finishing residency I am interested in starting a part-time online medical practice that would be using just typical webcam software for face to face consultation and paypal for a nominal cheap fee that most people could afford for a 15-20 min visit. My aim would be to provide some simple quality medical care for cheap for those that are busy, have difficult access to care, or to the uninsured while I finish out my residency.
My question and problem lies in the fact that a virtual exam obviously lacks the thoroughness and completeness of a true office visit because of the lack of a complete physical exam. Granted I would only plan to handle very simple medical problems that most often could just be diagnosed and prescribed with a good history, but I am wondering what kind of litigation I am opening myself up to by starting this kind of practice, especially considering I am doing it only part-time and for little economic gain so I am wondering if it would be worth the trouble given the rough legal world we live in and the lack of standards in this new virtual realm.
Any information or suggestions you have or could lead me to in order to safely protect myself and my patients in this endeavor would be greatly appreciated considering it is a new technology and I have been unable to find a lot of good information about state laws, malpractice protection, scope, etc...
thanks,
WebDoc

