Going past Eboli: some (constitutional) considerations on the (effectiveness of the) “promise” to close the Italian inter-regional healthcare gap through telemedicine

Abstract

The essay deals with Italian territorial gaps in healthcare. First, it assesses territorial gaps with reference to both, constitutional mandate, and actual guarantee. Afterwards, the essay analyzes some recent legal developments in e-health (telemedicine). Lastly, it draws some conclusions on the potential effects of e-health on the issues previously analyzed, i.e.: the actual scope of Italian Regions’ organizational autonomy and telemedicine’s promise to close territorial gaps, and therefore guarantee actual and uniform healthcare throughout the country.