Abstract

Based on the study of a teleneurology program implemented in Biobio, Chile, this article analyses the logics that articulate the moral work of medicine at a distance. From a pragmatic approach informed by material semiotics, the theory of subjectivisation and the sociology of morality, this article analyses three logics that give meaning to practices of valuation of the teleneurology program. These are deployed by actors who play different roles, generating points of tension, and channeling the constant evolution of the socio-material networks in which health care is performed. A civic industrial logic underpins public discourses that highlight the reduction of waiting lists as proof of the value of the telemedicine program. From a safety logic, meanwhile, medical staff prioritizes the adoption of standards that, aimed at controlling the risks involved in the realisation of medicine remotely, are held as valid by a professional community. For their part, adopting logic of care, patients and general practitioners emphasize the deployment of practices aimed at attending the particular situation experienced by each patient. It is proposed that recognizing the logics that different actors may adopt when giving value to health care practices can promote understanding, anticipating and solving the tensions that arise with the implementation of digital health technologies and telemedicine