Cross-Border Telemedicine represents one of the most complex legal areas in modern healthcare, where jurisdictions, licensing rules, and patient rights of different countries intersect. This service concerns cases where a Georgian doctor consults a patient abroad, or vice versa — a foreign specialist treats a patient in Georgia. The main challenge lies in the fact that a medical license is typically territorial, while the internet has no borders. This creates uncertainty: which country's laws apply to the treatment? Where should a dispute be heard in case of medical error? Does a foreign doctor have the right to issue a prescription valid in Georgia? This service is essential for medical tourism companies, international clinics, and expats.
Specialists on Legal.ge offer qualified legal assistance in cross-border telemedicine issues:
- Jurisdictional analysis: Determining which country's laws apply to a specific medical service.
- License recognition: Consulting on procedures for recognizing foreign medical licenses in Georgia (and vice versa).
- International contracts: Drafting service agreements that account for private international law norms.
- Insurance coverage: Analyzing whether professional liability insurance covers remote services provided in another country.
- International data transfer: Ensuring secure transfer of patient data between jurisdictions (GDPR and Georgian law).
In practice, cross-border telemedicine problems often arise during "Second Opinion" services. For example, a patient from Georgia contacts a German professor. If the German doctor provides a diagnosis and prescribes treatment, they are technically practicing medicine in Georgia, for which they may lack local authorization. On the other hand, Georgian doctors serving emigrants are at risk regarding the laws of the country where the patient is physically located. A lawyer helps you minimize these risks, for example, by framing the service as "consultative-informational."
In Georgia, this issue is regulated by the "Law on Medical Practice," which prohibits independent medical practice without a state certificate. For foreign doctors, there is a procedure for granting temporary rights administered by the Ministry of Health. Also important is the "Law on Private International Law," which determines the applicable law in contractual and tort relationships. When transferring patient data abroad, specific articles of the "Law on Personal Data Protection" apply, requiring verification of the recipient country's security standards.
Working with a specialist involves legal research of your target markets. If your clinic plans to accept patients from Europe or the USA remotely, the lawyer will assess regulations there and prepare appropriate disclaimers. This ensures that your activity is not considered illegal medical practice in another country.
Legal.ge is the platform in Georgia gathering experts in international health law. In globalization, medicine loses borders, but the law does not. Our specialists will help you safely cross these borders and expand your medical practice internationally.
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