IMR Press / RCM / Volume 21 / Issue 4 / DOI: 10.31083/j.rcm.2020.04.188
Open Access Systematic Review
Utility of telemedicine in the COVID-19 era
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1 Assistant Clinical Professor, Division of Nephrology, Texas A&M College of Medicine at Dallas, 75246, USA
2 Nephrologist, Division of Internal Medicine, Mexican Institute of Social Security, Merida, Yucatan, 97150, Mexico
3 Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago/ Advocate Christ Medical Center, Oak Lawn, 60453, IL, USA
*Correspondence: Gates.Colbert@BSWHealth.org (Gates B. Colbert)
Rev. Cardiovasc. Med. 2020, 21(4), 583–587; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.rcm.2020.04.188
Submitted: 15 September 2020 | Revised: 12 October 2020 | Accepted: 12 October 2020 | Published: 30 December 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Utilizing Technology in the COVID 19 era)
Copyright: © 2020 Colbert et al. Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Abstract

Previously it has been demonstrated that telehealth (TH) could help cover the gaps in health attention in remote locations. Today the expanded capabilities have transformed TH delivery, and from the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, it has remained one of our biggest allies. Telehealth has become a central piece in patient healthcare delivery during COVID-19 pandemic era. Telehealth allows health care services to reach patients in their homes, keeping other patients safe through social distancing and maintaining self-quarantine. Within this administration of health, TH allows health care providers to focus more resources to pandemic usage and at the same time continue caring for the health of non COVID-19 patients. During this time, clinicians are expanding knowledge about TH capabilities, such as application of forward triage as a tool to avoid patient contact in emergency departments. While previously TH was mainly used for primary care needs, specialized and urgent care health is now being utilized more than ever before. These advantages comes with limitations, some of them include a limited physical exam, lack of access to diagnostic testing or imaging, and many other pitfalls and persistent unmet needs. The 2020 pandemic has led to significant improvements leading into the next generation of telemedicine.

Keywords
Telemedicine
telehealth
COVID-19
healthcare
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