Legal liability of an online curbside consultation

These days, physicians are getting informal consultations (curbside consults) and "second opinion" feedback from other physicians by discussing patient care on closed, restricted online physician-only communities like Doximity. What is the legal liability of discussing a patient and getting input from physicians who have never seen or examined the patient? According to this document from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center: Some states have recognized that imposing liability for giving an informal opinion would have a chilling effect on the collegiality among physicians and, in the long term, have negative impact on patient care. Thus, a "curbside consultation" with another physician does not create a physician-patient relationship and, therefore, imposes no duty on the physician who informally shares his or her expertise with a colleague. Tennessee has yet to accept or reject the concept of a "curbside consultation." To the extent a physician affirmatively participates in the treatment or diagnosis, as opposed to expressing an opinion, Tennessee is likely to find a physician-patient relationship, even though the consulting physician did not examine the patient. See, Kelley v. Middle Tennessee Emergency Physicians, P.C., 133 S.W.3d 587 (Tenn. 2004). In a 2003 article from Family Medicine (Fam Med 2003;35(7):476-81.), the authors write: Courts have consistently ruled that no physician-patientrelationship exists between a consultant and the patient who is...
Source: Medicine and Technology by Dr. Joseph Kim - Category: Technology Consultants Tags: legal medicine social media Doximity malpractice consulting Source Type: blogs