Telemedicine and the Ethics of Medical Care at a Distance

As finite human beings, healthcare professionals cannot always be everywhere there is medical need. Communication technologies increasingly supply partial means to bridge this gap and extend the reach of timely medical expertise. Whereas access from a distance can provide substantial material health benefits, less easily translated through intervening technology are the often unmeasured, sometimes overlooked, morally significant, human elements that are essential to an in-person medical encounter. The technologies that connect people can facilitate healing, but they can also distract from care or reconfigure the relationship. Ethical medical practice must remain focused on the patient as a whole person who is more than a data set or collection of digital images.