Health care on the internet and the request for responsible conduct in the health legislation

HEALTH CARE ON THE INTERNET AND THE REQUEST FOR RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT IN THE HEALTH LEGISLATION

 

Christiansen, Ellen Kari, Legal adviser, Norwegian Centre for Telemedicine

 

There is a plethora of health-related web-sites on the internet. Some of these are considered as health care in the legal sense of the term. The practice of such health care involves processing of health information which is classified as sensitive information under the Personal Data Act. Moreover, there is no separate legislation for these services, as the health legislation is applicable to these offers as well as more traditional health services. However, the health legislation is not originally made for these circumstances. This represents new challenges.

One important issue under the Norwegian Health Legislation is the requirement of responsible conduct in the Health Personnel Act, section 4. It is stated that health personnel shall conduct their work in accordance with the requirements of professional responsibility and diligent care that can be expected. This is a legal standard and it includes a legal and professional norm for responsible conduct in different situations. A legal standard will depend on the circumstances in each event, and will change over time.

Health care via the internet creates new framework for the patient/health personnel relation. This will cause need for new considerations concerning responsible conduct. The health personnel still have their obligations and the patients his or her rights. In this presentation I will use some examples to illustrate how these obligations and rights can be taken care of in accordance with health care via the internet, and, hopefully, show how to avoid some pitfalls.