REVIEW ARTICLE


Telemedicine and Teleconsulting in the Era of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Useful Tool from Screening to Intensive Care Monitoring



Raffaele Abete1, *, Andrea Lorenzo Vecchi2, Attilio Iacovoni1, Andrea Mortara3, Michele Senni1
1Cardiovascular Department, ASST Papa Giovanni XXIII, Bergamo, Italy
2Department of Heart and Vessels, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy
3Cardiology Department, Policlinico di Monza, Monza, Italy


Article Metrics

CrossRef Citations:
0
Total Statistics:

Full-Text HTML Views: 767
Abstract HTML Views: 376
PDF Downloads: 185
Total Views/Downloads: 1328
Unique Statistics:

Full-Text HTML Views: 422
Abstract HTML Views: 250
PDF Downloads: 147
Total Views/Downloads: 819



Creative Commons License
© 2021 Abete et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at Cardiovascular Department, ASST Papa Giovanni XXIII, Bergamo, Italy; Tel: +39 035 2674847;
E-mail: aiacovoni@asst-pg23.it


Abstract

The COVID-19 global pandemic has had striking effects on clinical practice and medical assistance and the progressive evolution of telemedicine and telehealth systems has allowed healthcare professionals to connect with patients yet respecting the striking need for social distancing. This article aims to review the possible ways to use telehealth and teleconsulting systems to guarantee an adequate level of clinical assistance starting from screening procedures up to support the management of patients admitted to intensive care units area, thus balancing the need to ensure continuity of care and at the same time limiting the possible sources of contagion expansion. Telemedicine may be a useful tool to improve clinical assistance and reduce the financial burden on the health system in a long-term view. Although it cannot completely replace patient-physician interactions, it would be desirable to implement this field and made it accessible to the largest part of the population.

Keywords: Telemedicine, Telehealth, Teleconsulting, COVID-19, Screening, Intensive care monitoring.