The French Telemedicine System: Challenges, Procedures and Difficulties

Abstract

In France, telemedicine has been developing rapidly for several years, in response to economic, technical and legal challenges. The aim of the article is to present the broad outlines of the system that has been put in place, from a number of angles. The first deals with the problems to which telemedicine is proposed as a response. These problems are essentially what are known as “medical deserts”. Telemedicine is presented as a tool for compensating for the absence or shortage of healthcare professionals in a given area. This system would then promote reliable access to healthcare for the population. While this is a laudable objective, a more detailed analysis casts doubt on whether this result will be achieved. The second angle of this reflection concerns the conditions and procedures for implementing telemedicine. This involves looking at the players involved in order to determine what type of person can be mobilized, in terms of both the type of healthcare professional involved and the type of patient concerned. It is also a question of determining where a telemedicine procedure should be carried out, which shows the diversity of possibilities: where can the booths be set up and, more generally, where should the patient be on this occasion? The third and final angle of this contribution deals with the question of the risks that the practice of telemedicine may generate for patients over and above the benefits that can be imagined.