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Life Sciences Alert – May 2020

ALERT – LIFE SCIENCES

Legislative Decree 1490: provisions to strengthen telehealth services are established.

On May 10, 2020, Legislative Decree No. 1490 (hereinafter referred to as the Legislative Decree) was published, which aims to issue provisions aimed at strengthening the scope of telehealth.

In a preliminary way, while Peru already had current regulations for the provision of telehealth services, within the framework of the current Health Emergency, the Peruvian government has established and promulgated various provisions aimed at facilitating and encouraging telehealth services. Therefore, in addition to the Legislative Decree under comment, additional Administrative Directives have been published for its implementation.

However, the Legislative Decree defines telehealth as the remote health service provided by competent health personnel using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). This service takes into account the following axes of development: (i) the provision of health services (telemedicine), (ii) the management of health services, (iii) information, education and communication with cultural and linguistic relevance, (iv) capacity building for health personnel, (v) among others.
Likewise, the most relevant aspects of the Legislative Decree are the following:

– The incorporation of the electronic prescription into telemedicine services and the electronic medical record is provided as a technological tool for communicating prescription to patients through ICT. Thus, it is established that the electronic prescription shall be sent to the user using ICT and has legal value for use in pharmacies as well as to the Administrative Institution of Health Insurance Funds (IAFAS).

– It is established that telemedicine has the following services: (i) teleconsultation, (ii) teleinterconnection, (iii) teleguidance, (iv) telemonitoring; and, (v) others established by the Ministry of Health.
– It is pointed out that the provision of telehealth services must be carried out within the framework of the protection of personal data, information security and the terms of confidentiality required by current legislation. Furthermore, the authorization to process sensitive data within the teleguidance must be expressly granted through the ICT used to provide the service.
– The Ministry of Health is ordered, in coordination with the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, through the Digital Government Secretariat, to implement and maintain a digital information channel on telehealth.
– The National Telehealth Network is ordered to be established. The Ministry of Health shall be responsible for conducting, regulating, coordinating and evaluating this Network.

It must be mentioned that the provisions of the Legislative Decree are based on Emergency Decree No. 006-2020, which creates the National Digital Transformation System, and on Legislative Decree No. 1412, which approves the Digital Government Act, which regulate the cross-cutting use of digital technologies in the processes and services provided by the State for society, with telehealth being a service that promotes the digital transformation of the State.

Likewise, the Legislative Decree states that the pandemic caused by COVID-19 has demonstrated the importance of using telehealth to provide medical care, especially as a means of reducing the risk of contamination caused by close contact. Therefore, it is sought that telehealth strengthens the response capacity of our health system.

Finally, it is important to point out that the corresponding regulation must be adopted within a period of fifteen (15) calendar days, from the date of entry into force of the Legislative Decree.

For more information please contact Maritza Reátegui (mreategui@estudiorodrigo.com) and/or Daniela Supo (dsupo@estudiorodrigo.com).