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Previous Volume 358:1622-1627 April 10, 2008 Number 15 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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Low-cost labor, time zone differences, and telecommunication advances have "flattened" the world of business and services¹; however, health care has been relatively insulated from these world-flattening forces until recently. In particular, the fundamental physicality of medicine — the need to examine a patient or look at a chart or radiograph — prohibited the remote outsourcing that was possible in manufacturing or call centers.² However, digitized health care now permits the outsourcing of a range of medical services, from clinical diagnostics to direct care.

Although outsourcing of any type triggers predictable worries,³ outsourcing of health care raises special issues. Health . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Overview of Medical Outsourcing and Telemedicine

Regulatory, Legal, and Policy Context

Information Privacy

Regulatory and Billing Compliance

Malpractice and Liability

Patient Consent

Measuring and Ensuring Quality of Care

Conclusions

Source Information

From the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, San Francisco.

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