Telemedicine from a cross-border perspective

Gisela Ernst and Thomas Riesz recently published an article on cross-border telemedicine in the 11th issue of the Journal for Medical and Health Law. The article examines the recent ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on telemedicine. It begins by comparing the Austrian definition of telemedicine with the EU legal definition of telemedicine, which has now been further refined by the ECJ. The authors analyze various aspects of the divisibility of complex treatments, particularly how hybrid treatment models (where part of the therapy is provided in person and part digitally) should be classified, and point out the highly complex legal consequences for stakeholders in the healthcare sector.

A key focus of the article is that the ECJ has now classified the country-of-origin principle as decisive for cross-border telemedicine, rather than the country-of-destination principle. Further details on this were already discussed in October 2025 in the blog post “Telemedicine before the ECJ – the ruling.” In this context, particular attention is also given to the potentially adverse consequences this may have for consumers.

Finally, Gisela Ernst and Thomas Riesz place telemedicine activities within the broader regulatory framework and also address topics such as data protection and the FOG.

 

21. April 2026

 

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