Telemedicine becomes a reality in France

In September 2018, French Decree 2018-788, which sets out the conditions to provide telemedicine acts, entered into force. The Decree was adopted pursuant to Article 54 of the 2018 Social Security Financing Bill. It exempts health care professionals conducting a medical follow-up of patients over long distances (tele-monitoring) from obtaining, as required by Article R. 161-43 of the Social Security Code, the patient's signature on the treatment form in order to bill medical fees. The new regime will thus enable health care professionals to be remunerated for remotely interpreting the data necessary to monitor a patient and treating them accordingly. The recording and transmission of data can be automated or performed by the patient or by a healthcare professional.

Furthermore, the decree softens the formalities necessary to implement telemedicine. In particular, it no longer requires telemedicine acts to be defined, among others, in a contract between the general director of the regional health agency and the health professional, or in a convention among the relevant health actors conducting telemedicine.

A prior version of this post was originally published by the same authors in Practical Law – Life Sciences, September 2018 Issue (Thomson Reuters).

This post was originally co-authored by Patricia Carmona Botana.