A comparison of telehealth programs between the USA and Brazil: a legal perspective

Lara Rocha Garcia, Eliézer Silva, José Cláudio Cyrineu TerraHospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil Abstract: Telehealth has the potential to improve access and outcomes for patients and to reduce health care costs across a wide range of health conditions and situations. The wide adoption of telehealth requires, however, a strong legal and financial foundation. In this article, we compare the evolution of American and Brazilian telehealth legislations and reimbursement schemes. The detailed analysis in this article shows many differences between these two countries that help to explain why telehealth in the USA has a much faster adoption rate than that in Brazil. Keywords: telemedicine, telehealth, legislation and jurisprudence, remote consultation, telemedicine in Brazil, barriers of implementatio