Initial drafting of telemedicine's code of ethics through a stakeholders' participatory process

Hamid Shafizadeh; Bagher Larijani; Rita Mojtahedzadeh; Ehsan Shamsi Gooshki; Saharnaz Nedjat

doi:10.18502/jmehm.v14i24.8184

Initial drafting of telemedicine's code of ethics through a stakeholders' participatory process

J Med Ethics Hist Med. 2021 Dec 9:14:24. doi: 10.18502/jmehm.v14i24.8184. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Hamid Shafizadeh¹, Bagher Larijani², Rita Mojtahedzadeh³, Ehsan Shamsi Gooshki⁴, Saharnaz Nedjat⁵

Affiliations

¹ PhD Candidate of Medical Ethics, Department of Medical Ethics, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran .
² Professor, Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinical Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran .
³ Associate Professor, Department of E-Learning in Medical Education , Center of Excellence for E -Learning in Medical Education, Virtual School, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran .
⁴ Associate Professor, Medical Ethics and History of Medicine Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran ; Department of Medical Ethics, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran .
⁵ Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran .

Abstract

Telemedicine can improve access to healthcare services; however, it has raised ethical concerns demanding special considerations. This study aimed at developing the codes of ethics for telemedicine, and hence several approved national and international ethical guidelines related to telemedicine practice were reviewed, and 48 semi-structured interviews were conducted with medical ethics and medical informatics experts as well as with physicians and patients who had telemedicine experiences. Content analysis was then performed on the interviews' transcripts and a draft on code of ethics was prepared, which was further reviewed by the experts in the focus group meetings to reach a consensus on the final document. The final document consisted of a preface, five considerations, and 25 ethical statements. Considering the growing trend of adopting telemedicine worldwide, this document provides an ethical framework for those who use telemedicine in their medical practice.

Keywords: Code of ethics; Health services; Iran.; Telemedicine.