Opportunities and Challenges of Telehealth in Disease Management during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review

Alipour, Jahanpour; Hayavi-Haghighi, Mohammad Hosein

doi:10.1055/s-0041-1735181

Cited by 24 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 144 publications

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“…The most significant advantage of telehealth is to facilitate safe, timely, and continuous healthcare delivery. 3 – 5 Other benefits include cost and time efficiencies and improved care access in remote areas. 4 Nevertheless, challenges have arisen, including the lack of well-equipped information technology (IT) infrastructure, 6 limited computer literacy and skills, 4 difficulty in performing physical examinations, 4 and interactions with patients who had cognitive, visual, or hearing impairment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 3 – 5 Other benefits include cost and time efficiencies and improved care access in remote areas. 4 Nevertheless, challenges have arisen, including the lack of well-equipped information technology (IT) infrastructure, 6 limited computer literacy and skills, 4 difficulty in performing physical examinations, 4 and interactions with patients who had cognitive, visual, or hearing impairment. 7 These issues are particularly prevalent in residents living in long-term care facilities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, social disparities have been mentioned as a common barrier to optimal utilisation of telehealth. 4 , 7 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Telehealth utilisation in residential aged care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective cohort study in Australian general practice

Sezgin

Franco

et al. 2022

J Telemed Telecare

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Introduction Our earlier analysis during the COVID-19 surges in 2020 showed a reduction in general practitioner (GP) in-person visits to residential aged care facilities (RACFs) and increased use of telehealth. This study assessed how sociodemographic characteristics affected telehealth utilisation. Methods This retrospective cohort consists of 27,980 RACF residents aged 65 years and over, identified from general practice electronic health records in Victoria and New South Wales during March 2020-August 2021. Residents’ demographic characteristics, including age, sex, region, and pension status, were analysed to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for the associations with telehealth utilisation (telephone/video vs. in-person consultations) and with video versus telephone consultations, in mixed-effects multiple level regression models. Results Of 32,330 median monthly GP consultations among 21,987 residents identified in 2020, telehealth visits accounted for 17% of GP consultations, of which 93% were telephone consults. In 2021, of 32,229 median monthly GP consultations among 22,712 residents, telehealth visits accounted for 11% of GP consultations (97% by telephone). Pension holders (OR: 1.14; 95% CI: 1.10, 1.17) and those residing in rural areas (OR: 1.72; 95% CI: 1.57, 1.90) were more likely to use telehealth. However, residents in rural areas were less likely to use video than telephone in GP consultations (OR: 0.41; 95% CI: 0.29, 0.57). Results were similar in separate analyses for each COVID surge. Discussion Telephone was primarily used in telehealth consultations among pension holders and rural residents in RACFs. Along with the limited use of video in virtual care in rural RACFs, the digital divide may imply potential healthcare disparities in socially disadvantaged patients.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Telehealth utilisation in residential aged care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective cohort study in Australian general practice

Sezgin

Franco

et al. 2022

J Telemed Telecare

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“…Digital technologies including telemedicine have plenty of benefits to healthcare delivery with the help of good telecommunication infrastructures, information technology infrastructures, medical terminologies, and trained health professionals it helps to provide health services and manage patients at distance [ 2 ]. In the era of covid-19 pandemics, telemedicine have a great role in controlling the pandemics by using different communication modalities including, online consultation, telemonitoring/screening and chatbox and sensors, and geographic position system to avoid potentially dangerous location [ 3 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health professionals’ readiness and its associated factors to implement Telemedicine system at private hospitals in Amhara region, Ethiopia 2021

2022

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Introduction In resource-limited settings incorporating the Telemedicine system into the healthcare system enhances exchanging valid health information for practicing evidence-based medicine for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases. Despite its great importance, the adoption of telemedicine in low-income country settings, like Ethiopia, was lagging and increasingly failed. Assessing the readiness of health professionals before the actual adoption of telemedicine is considered the prominent solution to tackle the problem. However, little is known about Health professionals’ telemedicine readiness in this study setting. Objective Accordingly, this study aimed to assess health professionals’ readiness and its associated factors to implement a Telemedicine system at private hospitals in North West, Ethiopia. Materials and methods An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March 3 to April 7, 2021. A total of 423 health professionals working in private hospitals were selected using a simple random sampling technique. Multi-variable logistic regression was fitted to identify determinant factors of health professional readiness after the other covariates were controlled. Result In this study the overall readiness of telemedicine adoption was 65.4% (n = 268) [95% CI:60.1–69.8]. Knowledge (AOR = 2.5;95% CI: [1.4, 4.6]), Attitude (AOR = 3.2;95% CI: [1.6, 6.2]), computer literacy (AOR = 2.2; 95% CI: [1.3, 3.9]), computer training (AOR = 2.1;95% CI: [1.1, 4.1]), Computer skill (AOR = 1.9;95% CI: [1.1, 3.4]), computer access at office (AOR = 2.1;95% CI: [1.1, 3.7]), Internet access at office (AOR = 2.8; 95% CI: [1.6, 5.1]), Own personal computer (AOR = 3.0; 95% CI: [1.5, 5.9]) and work experience (AOR = 3.1; 95% CI: [1.4, 6.7]) were significantly associated with the overall health professionals readiness for the adoption of telemedicine using a cut point of p-value lessthan 0.05. Conclusion and recommendation Around two-thirds of the respondents had a good level of overall readiness for the adoption of telemedicine. The finding implied that less effort is required to improve readiness before the implementation of telemedicine. This findings implied that respondents who had good knowledge and a favorable attitude toward telemedicine were more ready for such technology. Capacity building is needed Enhance computer literacy, and computer skills building their confidence to rise ready for such technology. Building their capacity through training, building good internet connection, and availability of computers, where the necessary measures to improve Telemedicine readiness in this setting. Additionally, further studies are recommended to encompass all types of telemedicine readiness such as organizational readiness, technology readiness, societal readiness, and so on. Additionally, exploring the healthcare provider opinion with qualitative study and extending the proposed study to other implementation settings are recommended to be addressed in future works. The study has a positive impact on the successful implementation and use of telemedicine throughout hospitals at countries level by providing pertinent information about health professionals’ preparedness status. Therefore, implementing telemedicine will have a significant contribution to the health system performance improvement in terms of providing quality care, accessibility to health facilities, reduction of costs, and creating a platform for communication between health professionals across different health institutions for providing quality patient care.

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“…With the impact of widespread infection with SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) beginning in 2019, standard health programs became almost unavailable. By necessity, the inertia imposed by conventional wisdom in providing standard but potentially hazardous, face-toface medical care had to be overcome, resulting in the widespread use of TM in medical care, including in those with respiratory diseases [44,45]. In general, this led to wider acceptance of TM as a desired and beneficial therapeutic modality, leading to changes in healthcare organizations incorporating it into their systems [46].…”

Section: Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Telemedicine as a Means to an End, Not an End in Itself

Vitacca

Scalvini

2022

Life

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Telemedicine (TM)—the management of disease at a distance—has potential usefulness for patients with advanced respiratory disease. Underscoring this potential is the dramatic expansion of its applications in clinical medicine. However, since clinical studies testing this intervention often provide heterogeneous results, its role in the medical management of respiratory disorders remains inconclusive. A major problem in establishing TM’s effectiveness is that it is not a single intervention; rather, it includes a number of divergent diagnostic and therapeutic modalities—and each must be tested separately. Reflecting the discord between the need for further documentation of its approaches and effectiveness and its rapid utilization without this needed information, a major challenge is the lack of international guidelines for its integration, regulation, operational plans, and guidance for professionals. Tailored TM, with increased flexibility to address differing healthcare contexts, has the potential to improve access to and quality of services while reducing costs and direct input by health professionals. We should view TM as a tool to aid healthcare professionals in managing their patients with respiratory diseases rather than as a stand-alone substitute to traditional medical care. As such, TM is a means rather than an end.

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Opportunities and Challenges of Telehealth in Disease Management during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review

Cited by 24 publications

References 144 publications

Telehealth utilisation in residential aged care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective cohort study in Australian general practice

Telehealth utilisation in residential aged care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective cohort study in Australian general practice

Health professionals’ readiness and its associated factors to implement Telemedicine system at private hospitals in Amhara region, Ethiopia 2021

Telemedicine as a Means to an End, Not an End in Itself

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