The American Telemedicine Association released draft Clinical Guidelines for Telepathology and is seeking public comments through June 20, 2014.
Practice guidelines can serve as a useful reference point for the development of a provider's standards of care, policies and practices regarding telemedicine and telehealth, and foundation for the deployment of telemedicine services. Standards of practice constitute the basis for uniform, quality patient care and safety, grounded in empirical research and clinical experience.
The new draft Clinical Guidelines for Telepathology is an update to the original guideline published in 1999. The guidelines provide guidance on specific clinical applications, practice, benefits, limitations, and regulatory issues. Clinical applications addressed in the guidelines include: primary diagnosis, intraoperative consultations, secondary consultations, and quality assurance that may result in amended cases. The guidelines apply to all types of telepathology configurations, regardless of hardware, including static (store and forward), dynamic (synchronous) and hybrid static-dynamic implementations.
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