Telemedicine & COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 disease originated in Wuhan, China and has kept spreading widely to other regions of the world. This universal event has been announced a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). To reduce transmission, travel restrictions have been appointed and enforced around the world, and most cities have been quarantined. However, people who are not infected with the COVID-19, especially those who are at greater risk of developing the disease (Elderly people and those with underlying diseases), should receive daily care without the risk of exposure to other patients in the hospital. Moreover, under strict infection control, unnecessary personnel such as clinical psychiatrists strongly refuse to enter COVID-19 patient’s ward.

In this situation, technological advances provide new options. Although the effective solution for COVID-19 will be multi-faceted, it is one of the effective ways to use existing technologies to facilitate optimal service delivery while minimizing the hazard of direct person to person exposure. The use of telemedicine at the time of COVID-19 pandemic conditions has the potential to improve research, control of disease and management of clinics.

The use of telemedicine technology is a twenty first century approach that is both patient-centered and protects patients, physicians, as well as others. Telemedicine is the delivery of health care services by health care professionals, where distance is a critical factor, through using information and communication technologies for the exchange of valid and correct information. Telemedicine services are rendered using real-time or store and forward techniques.

Today most families have at least one device of digital, such as smartphones and webcams that provide communication between patient and healthcare provider. Video conferencing and similar television systems are also used to provide health care programs for citizens who are hospitalized or in quarantine to reduce the risk of exposure to others and employees. Physicians who are in quarantine can employ these services to take care of their patients remotely. In addition, covering multiple sites with a telemedicine can address some of the challenges of the workforce.

Remote care reduces the use of resources in health centers, improves access to care, while minimizing the risk of direct transmission of the infectious agent.

Telemedicine can become a basic need for the general population, health care providers, and patients with COVID-19, especially when people are in quarantine, enabling patients in real time through contact with health care provider for advice on their health problems. Thus, the aim of this review was to identify and systematically review the role of telemedicine services in preventing, diagnosing, treating, and controlling diseases during COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.

Telemedicine has the capability to incorporate several organizations and situations of health care into one virtual network, led by the central clinic. This network can contain physical locations in different region: central and remote clinics, prevention centers, private clinics, and, private offices of physicians, centers for rehab state and all registered patients within their locations. By using virtual care for very regular, essential medical care, and deferring elective procedures or checkups, we can free up medical staff and equipment required for those who become seriously sick from COVID-19. Additionally, by not congregating in small spaces like waiting rooms, the ability of the corona virus to transmission from one person to another were foil.

Some of the telemedicine usage cases for patients were control and triage during the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, self and distance monitoring, treatment, patients after discharge in health centers (follow-ups) and implementation of online health services. These methods have the potential to reduce morbidity and mortality during pandemic. For all healthcare workers and clinicians with mild symptom scan still work remotely with patients, facilitate quick access to medical decision making, seek second opinion for severe cases of patients, exchange cross-border experiences, and offer teleradiology and online trainings for health workers. To provide continued access to necessary health services, telemedicine should be a key tool against the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.