[Origins of French telemedicine legislation]. / La genèse de la loi sur la télémédecine.

After the creation of the european institute of telemedicine on 10 July 1989 at Paul Sabatier university in Toulouse, it became clear that legislation was needed to provide a solid framework for this new medical practice. The French government's decision in 1993 to create an experimental telemedicine network in the Midi-Pyrenees region, bringing together all public and private healthcare establishments, led us to manage telemedicine in much the same way as a hospital department. This resulted in the creation of institutional systems suited to multicenter networking and requiring particular regulations to govern healthcare professionals' responsibilities, financing, data security, and the use of new communication and information technologies. Articles specific to telemedicine were integrated into the law of 13 August 2004 relating to the reorganisation of French healthcare insurance.

International concerted action on collaboration in telemedicine: recommendations of the G-8 Global Healthcare Applications Subproject-4.

The main objectives of the G-8 Global Healthcare Applications Subproject-4 (G-8 GHAP-SP-4) were to establish an international concerted action on collaboration in telemedicine, telehealth, and health telematics (hereafter referred in this paper as telemedicine). In order to promote and facilitate the implementation of telemedicine or health telematics networks around the world, it was considered necessary to address certain key issues. Five thematic solution-seeking forums were held between May 1998 and December 1999. Each addressed a key issue, including interoperability of telemedicine and telehealth systems, impact of telemedicine on health care management, evaluation and cost effectiveness of telemedicine, clinical and technical quality and standards, and medico-legal aspects of national and international applications. The main objectives of these forums were to establish best practices and a thorough review of the issues and discussions among experts to determine the best solutions for the facilitation of global international telemedicine networks. More than 650 invited participants from 16 countries attended the five forums, which were of 2-3 days in duration. These forums provided a foundation for the exchange of ideas resulting in the initiation of collaborative activities. Based on these deliberations, a series of 21 recommendations were prepared by the national representatives of the G-8 GHAP SP-4. These recommendations propose to political leaders and health care managers of the G-8 and other countries roadmaps to follow in order to accelerate the achievement of a Global Society of Healthcare via Telemedicine, Telehealth, and Health Telematics. The 21 recommendations are presented in this report.