Abstract
Telehealth (or the use of technology to provide remote healthcare) seems to be a wonderful solution to medical deserts and frequent trips to a physician. Although telehealth increases access to healthcare, it also carries risks that have human rights implications. These risks include a lack of relationship between physician and patient, misdiagnosis/ misdosage, access issues to medical records, and misuse of records or other information whether by facility staff or hackers. Within the United States, the Affordable Care Act has introduced telehealth as an accepted part of the healthcare field, however the states control the regulation and implementation so there is often variance from state to state. This project will examine mission statements of digital healthcare companies, specifically considering the human rights dimensions. I will be focusing on the right to health and privacy (articles twenty-five and twelve in the UDHR). Additionally, I will analyze New York state laws or regulations pertaining to technology-based healthcare. Telehealth is important to understand because, as a society, we must ensure our human rights are not being violated as the field continues to grow.