Charting the Course: Telemedicine Trends, Regulatory Frameworks, and Implementation Challenges in India

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Background: In low- and middle-income countries like India, telemedicine emerges as an important solution for healthcare delivery as geographical, workforce, and infrastructural disparities limit access to care. Objective: This article explores the evolution of telemedicine in India, with a focus on legal framework, policy shifts, implementation challenges, and comparison with global telemedicine. Methods: The method employed was a qualitative narrative review. Peer-reviewed Google Scholar, PubMed and Scopus-indexed journal articles, World Health Organisation reports, and Indian government telemedicine laws and regulations were among the data sources. Documents published between 2000 and 2024 were evaluated for legislative provisions, implementation hurdles, and relevance, excluding technical or clinical reports without policy analysis or those in regional languages. Results: India has established a foundational regulatory structure for telemedicine through the Telemedicine Practice Guidelines (2020), which is backed by current laws like the Indian Medical Council Regulations (2002) and the Information Technology Act (2000). The COVID-19 epidemic sped up adoption, increased the number of teleconsultation modalities that are acceptable, and revealed structural limitations such as provider preparedness, digital inequality, and data privacy issues. Conclusion: Although India's telemedicine framework is flexible and forward-thinking, its successful implementation necessitates improved digital infrastructure, uniform training, strong data security measures, and ongoing regulatory improvement in line with international best practices.

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