Dive Brief:
- Idaho's board of medicine has sanctioned a doctor who prescribed an antibiotic over the phone as part of work for telemedicine company Consult-a-Doctor.
- Physician Ann DeJong, who is licensed to practice in nine states, is undergoing reviews by state medical boards in the other eight states where she is licensed as well.
- The Idaho medical board scolded DeJong for prescribing medication without an in-person exam of the patient.
Dive Insight:
Across the U.S., telemedicine companies are springing up that allow patients to have a video or telephone exam and if necessary, receive a prescription at their local pharmacy. However, as this case illustrates, regulations are still not uniformly in place to deal with telemedicine. (Although the Idaho Legislature has shown some sympathy for telemedicine docs, passing a bill earlier this year urging the formation of state standards for telemedicine.) Given the speed at which telemedicine companies are opening for business, there may be other cases in which the state medical board decides that a doctor crossed the line by practicing medicine digitally.