Digital health in Latin America: current legislation and ethical aspects/Salud digital en America Latina: legislacion actual y aspectos eticos/Saude digital na America Latina: legislacao atual e aspectos eticos

Objectives. Describe the current legislation on electronic medical records (EMR) and telehealth in Latin American countries and analyze the treatment of confidentiality and professional secrecy. Methods. Between March and September 2022, a survey of the regulations in force in 21 Latin American countries was conducted at two levels: the existence of legislation on EMR and telehealth, and the treatment of confidentiality and professional secrecy in EMR and telehealth. A data extraction form was prepared for each country. Data were collected from official on-line sources. The information was analyzed qualitatively and synthesized in tables when possible. Results. The use of EMR is legally regulated in 16 countries. Nineteen countries have legislation on telehealth. All the countries analyzed safeguard confidentiality and professional secrecy through regulations. However, confidentiality and professional secrecy are mentioned in 11 countries in the context of telehealth, and in only nine countries in the context of EMR. Conclusions. Since the start of this century, Latin America has made progress in the legislation of digital tools for health care, such as EMR and telehealth. There is also interest in ethical issues related to the use of EMR and telehealth, particularly confidentiality and professional secrecy, aspects that should be strengthened in digital health. Keywords Telemedicine; electronic health records; bioethics; confidentiality; Latin America. Objetivo. Describir la legislacion vigente respecto a historia clinica electronica (HCE) y telesalud de los paises latinoamericanos y analizar el tratamiento de la confidencialidad y el secreto profesional. Metodos. Entre marzo y septiembre de 2022, se realizo un relevamiento de la reglamentacion vigente en los 21 paises latinoamericanos en estudio, en dos niveles: i) la existencia de legislacion respecto a la HCE y la telesalud, y ii) el tratamiento de la confidencialidad y el secreto profesional en la HCE y la telesalud. Se confecciono una ficha de extraccion de datos por pais. Se recolectaron datos a partir de fuentes on-line oficiales. Se analizo cualitativamente la informacion y se sintetizo en forma de tablas cuando fue posible. Resultados. El uso de la HCE esta reglamentado legalmente en 16 paises. Para el caso de telesalud, son 19 paises los que cuentan con legislacion en referencia a esta herramienta. Todos los paises analizados resguardan la confidencialidad y el secreto profesional a traves de re