Legal regulation of telemedicine in Russia

Telemedicine is a rapidly evolving form of healthcare that necessitates balanced legal regulation. The implementation of experimental legal regimes (regulatory sandboxes) in Russian legislation, particularly concerning the adoption of telemedicine technologies, further underscores the relevance of this issue. This study aims to analyze the historical and current state of telemedicine’s legal regulation in Russia, define the scope of the concept, and identify existing regulatory challenges. The research draws upon national and international scholarly works in law and medicine, as well as current and superseded regulatory legal acts governing medical services and experimental legal regimes. Formal legal, historical, and forecasting methods were employed. The analysis examines “broad” and “narrow” definitions of telemedicine, differentiating it from related phenomena within healthcare digitalization. The study identifies three stages in the evolution of telemedicine’s legal framework in Russia, analyzes both basic and experimental legal regulations, and highlights contemporary regulatory issues pertaining to the use of telemedicine technologies.