Global Perspective on Telemedicine for Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract

Telemedicine programs are particularly suited to evaluating patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and other movement disorders, primarily because much of the physical exam findings are visual. Telemedicine uses information and communication technologist to overcome geographical barriers and increase access to healthcare services, and it is particularly beneficial for rural and underserved communities, groups that traditionally suffer from lack of access to healthcare. There is a growing evidence of the feasibility of telemedicine, cost and time savings, patients’ and physicians’ satisfaction, and its outcome and impact on patients’ morbidity and quality of life. In addition, given the unusual current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine has offered the opportunity to address the ongoing healthcare needs of patients with PD, to reduce in-person clinic visits, and human exposures (among healthcare workers and patients) to a range of infectious diseases including COVID-19. However, there are still several challenges to widespread implementation of telemedicine including the limited performance of parts of the neurological exam, limited technological savvy, fear of loss of a personal connection, or uneasiness about communicating sensitive information. On the other hand, while we are facing the new wave of COVID-19 pandemic, patients and clinicians are gaining increasing experience with telemedicine, facilitating equity of access to specialized multidisciplinary care for PD. This article summarizes and reviews the current state and future directions of telemedicine from a global perspective.

Worsened Parkinson’s Disease Progression: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Further, whilst treatments for improving functional outcomes through telemedicine offer opportunities to treat patients at home [8,[27][28][29][30][31], insurance bodies in many countries including Switzerland incomprehensibly require personal consultations for coverage of costs. More studies are needed to investigate whether telemedicine approaches can supplement traditional patient care [27,32] and personal training.…”

Videoconferencing Software Options for Telemedicine: A Review for Movement Disorder Neurologists

“…However, most would appear to agree that videoconferencing should be reserved for followup visits, intermingled with in-person visits to the hospital whenever possible, but preferably not for making a diagnosis in a new patient (12,13). Previous literature has shown a digital gap and poor eHealth literacy (14), especially in elderly, uneducated patients, limiting telemedicine's usefulness in certain 2 Available online at: https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issuebriefs/2021/jun/states-actions-expand-telemedicine-access-covid-19. 3 Available online at: https://nhic.gov.sa/en/Initiatives/Documents/ TheGoverningRulesOfTelehealthEnglishEstablishingRules.pdf.…”

“…A shift to video conferencing visits must be accompanied by efforts to prepare for and protect against breaches of security and privacy. Concern over such breaches is one of the many barriers and challenges against the more widespread adoption of telemedicine ( 2 ). Cybersecurity must be appropriately addressed to continue providing the best and safest care to our patients.…”

“…Advances in technology have expanded telemedicine opportunities in medical practice, research, and education. After the declaration of the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic, the use of telemedicine has increased to address the ongoing healthcare needs of patients with chronic illnesses, for example, by the introduction of interdisciplinary telehealth services (1)(2)(3). Such services have helped reduce the number of in-person clinic visits and thereby minimize human exposures to Coronavirus.…”

Secondary Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on People with Parkinson’s Disease—Results of a Polish Online Survey

“…Access to physicians and physiotherapists was restricted. In response to the situation, the role of telemedicine (used in general to diagnose, consult and heal, also in the meaning of telerehabilitation) increased [ 5 , 6 , 7 ] and its effectiveness was confirmed even before the pandemic [ 8 , 9 , 10 ].…”