REPORTS
from Council
Council wants feedback on expectations
in Telemedicine draft policy
C
ouncil wants to hear what
you have to say about the
updated draft of the College’s Telemedicine policy. Council
voted to approve the draft for an
external consultation.
This is a brief overview
of the discussions and
decisions made at the
May Council meeting.
Given the evolution of technology
and increased use of telemedicine
in diverse practice settings, the
draft policy contains a number
of new or revised expectations to
ensure it is clear, up-to-date and
comprehensive.
A Working Group developed the
draft with the overarching premise
that the practise of telemedicine
is the practise of medicine; as
such, physicians’ existing legal and
professional obligations remain
applicable when providing care via
telemedicine. Because the technology is evolving at such a fast pace,
the draft does not specify technical requirements, or name which
technologies are or are not secure.
Instead, it sets out general expectations for the practise of telemedicine, along with specific expectations for practising telemedicine
across borders.
The draft policy is the cover story
in this issue of Dialogue.
Preliminary consultations
We are also embarking on preliminary consultations on three existing
policies:
1. Blood Borne Pathogens
2. hysicians and the Ontario
P
Human Rights Code
3. hysician Behaviour in the
P
Professional Environment
Feedback obtained through these
consultations will inform the policy
review process for each policy moving forward. Please visit our consultations page on our website at
www.cpso.on.ca for more information and to provide your thoughts.
The closing date for consultation is
August 5th.
Transparency Initiative
Council has advanced its initiative
to enhance the transparency of information – both about physicians,
and the effectiveness of self-regulation – by approving, in principle,
the steps needed to improve the
clarity of existing information.
DIALOGUE • Issue 2, 2014
11