While the term “telemedicine” describes a broad group of services, the “Medical Staff” standards related to telemedicine (MS.5.16 and MS.5.16.1, see sidebar) cover a narrowly defined subset of those services. These standards focus solely on services provided by licensed independent practitioners (LIPs) who have total or shared responsibility for the care of a patient as evidenced by having the authority to direct patient care and write orders through a telemedicine link.

These practitioners are required to be credentialed and privileged for relevant services at the site here the patient is located (the originating site). Credentialing information from the site where the practitioner providing professional service is located (the distant site) may be used by the originating site to establish privileges if the distant site is a JCAHO–accredited organization.

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