Telehealth and telemedicine in Colombia: Law 1419 of 2010 and Resolution 1644 of 2026

What it is

Law 1419 of 2010 sets the guidelines for telehealth in Colombia. It defines telehealth as health activities carried out at a distance with information and communication technologies, including telemedicine (providing health services at a distance) and tele-education. It requires insurers and providers to offer telemedicine without it replacing personal care. Resolution 2654 of 2019 regulated it for almost seven years; Resolution 1644 of 2026, issued on 31 July 2026, repealed it and now sets the rules. It separates telehealth (tele-guidance, tele-support and tele-education, which need no accreditation and are not a medical act) from telemedicine, an accredited service with four categories: tele-expertise, tele-opinion, teleconsultation and telemonitoring. For ethics the questions are the usual ones, with new risks: informed consent that explains the modality, identification of both parties, confidentiality of data, recording in the medical record, knowing when the patient must be seen in person, and who is responsible for each decision.

Key articles

• Law 1419 of 2010, art. 2: telehealth includes telemedicine and tele-education; telemedicine is the provision of health services at a distance by professionals using information and communication technologies.
• Law 1419, art. 9, paragraph 3: telemedicine does not release providers from personal care, and under no circumstances is it meant to replace it.
• Res. 1644 of 2026, art. 7: informed consent about how it works, scope, risks, privacy, prescribing and what to do in emergencies or technical failures; for minors, also their assent according to maturity.
• Res. 1644, arts. 9 and 10: tele-guidance, tele-support and tele-education are not a medical act and do not replace care; tele-guidance does not prescribe drugs, orders, sick leave or certificates.
• Res. 1644, art. 14, paragraphs 3 and 5: every telemedicine encounter is recorded in the medical record; it does not replace in-person care when that is needed, and the professional decides when it is.
• Res. 1644, art. 15: telemedicine categories: tele-expertise, tele-opinion, teleconsultation and telemonitoring.
• Res. 1644, art. 20: drugs are prescribed only in tele-expertise, teleconsultation and tele-opinion; the professional may decline if clinical information is lacking.
• Res. 1644, art. 23: artificial intelligence is only support; the user must be told it is used and the professional keeps control of clinical decisions.

What it covers

• Telehealth (not accredited, not a medical act): tele-guidance, tele-support between professionals and tele-education.
• Telemedicine (accredited service): tele-expertise, tele-opinion, teleconsultation and telemonitoring, synchronous or asynchronous.
• Common duties: consent, identification, confidentiality and data protection, recording in the medical record.
• Prescribing, orders and sick-leave certificates by telemedicine, and the use of artificial intelligence as support.

In clinical practice

• In a video teleconsultation the patient describes typical chest pain: the professional stops the remote encounter, gives emergency instructions and records it; autonomy includes declining (Res. 1644, art. 18).
• Before starting, the professional gives their identity, identifies the patient and confirms the patient is speaking from a private place.
• In tele-expertise, the doctor with the patient answers for the direct assessment, consent and medical record; the remote specialist answers for the analysis and recommendations.
• Using personal messaging without security guarantees to send results or clinical photos exposes sensitive data (Law 1581 of 2012).

Status and official text

• Official text verified on 2026-11-13 on funcionpublica.gov.co (Law 1419 of 2010) and on minsalud.gov.co (Resolutions 2654 of 2019 and 1644 of 2026).
• Resolution 1644 of 2026 (art. 44) applies from issue and repeals Resolution 2654 of 2019, whose categories were interactive telemedicine, non-interactive telemedicine, tele-expertise and telemonitoring.
• Resolution 1644 complements Resolution 3100 of 2019 (accreditation of services) and was issued under art. 9 of Law 1419 of 2010.
• Sick-leave and other certificates issued by telemedicine follow the rules in force, including Decree 2126 of 2023 (Res. 1644, art. 21, paragraph).
• For Law 1419 of 2010, the Gestor Normativo lists no amendments as of the date checked.

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Educational content on ethics and health law; not legal advice. Laws and case law change: each page links the official text and says when it was last checked. For a real case, read the text in force and ask a lawyer or the medical ethics tribunal.

Sources: Ley 1419 de 2010, guidelines for the development of telehealth in Colombia (Función Pública, Gestor Normativo, 2010); Resolución 1644 de 2026, requirements and conditions for telehealth and telemedicine (repeals Resolution 2654 of 2019) (Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social, 2026); Resolución 2654 de 2019, telehealth provisions and parameters for telemedicine (repealed) (Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social, 2019); WMA International Code of Medical Ethics (2022), para. 26 (World Medical Association, 2022).

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