Are You My Doctor? Defining the Doctor-Patient Relationship in the Global Age of E-Health

Abstract

The possibility of virtual cross-border interactions between doctors and consumers in the ehealth
sphere clouds the establishment of a doctor-patient relationship. This Commentary discusses
the concept of e-health and its impact on the doctor-patient relationship. It then analyzes the legal
framework governing the doctor-patient relationship in e-health interactions between a doctor and
e-health consumer under a combination of various American and European legal and regulatory
regimes. Finally, it combines unifying principals from these regimes to suggest universal legal
guidance for predicting when e-health interactions between a doctor and e-health consumer give
rise to a doctor-patient relationship.