Perspectives on Telemedicine during the Era of COVID-19; What Can Saudi Arabia Do?

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has represented a challenge to medical practice in Saudi Arabia and worldwide. In contrary to the increasing numbers of COVID-19 patients, there was a limitation in the capacity of medical practices and access to healthcare. A growing body of evidence from healthcare settings in Saudi Arabia and worldwide has suggested a possible role for telemedicine in responding to this evolving need. Telemedicine can be used for triage, direct care, follow-up, and consultation. It could be delivered through synchronous, asynchronous, and mixed approaches. While telemedicine has several advantages, such as accessibility and cost-effectiveness, its diagnostic reliability should be further investigated. The Saudi Vision (2030) has drawn up a roadmap to invest in digital healthcare during the coming decade; however, some barriers related to using telemedicine in Saudi healthcare settings, including cultural issues and technical difficulties, should be openly discussed. In addition, before putting telemedicine in practice on a wide scale in Saudi Arabia, more efforts should be carried out to issue updated legislation and regulations, discuss and respond to ethical concerns, and ensure data security.

The role of the COVID-19 pandemic in expediting digital health-care transformation: Saudi Arabia's experience

“…Privacy is a top priority in all categories, as the insurance of patients' private information is a crucial part of the healthcare process [ 23 ]. While informed consent is mandatory in the practice of clinical and telemedicine alike, emphasis on the importance of updating laws concerning consent and the way it is provided by patients in cases where written consent is necessary should be uniformly regulated by responsible authorities and explained to patients.…”

“…While informed consent is mandatory in the practice of clinical and telemedicine alike, emphasis on the importance of updating laws concerning consent and the way it is provided by patients in cases where written consent is necessary should be uniformly regulated by responsible authorities and explained to patients. Also, the use of videos, photos, conversations, and other personal information should be clarified for both healthcare providers and patients to ensure privacy and confidentiality and help facilitate the use of different telehealth services [ 12 , 23 , 24 ]. Telehealth poses new cybersecurity and privacy issues because a patient's home may not have the same security and privacy protections as a provider's office.…”

Prevalence of depression, anxiety, stress and its relationship with knowledge about COVID-19 in medical and laboratory medicine students of Umm-Al-Qura University: a cross-sectional survey

“…The anxiety sub-score was categorized into the following scores, "normal" (0-6) "mild" (7-9), "moderate" (10)(11)(12)(13)(14), "severe" (15)(16)(17)(18)(19), and extremely severe" . The stress subscale score was categorized into "normal" (0-10) "mild" (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18), "moderate" (19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25), "severe" (26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33), and "extremely severe" stress [22]. Participants were asked to report the presence of a symptom over the past week.…”

Strengthening the Trialability for the Intention to Use of mHealth Apps Amidst Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…The COVID-19 pandemic gives rise to the wide use of health applications, as non-pharmaceutical measures including social distance, isolation, and lockdown are enacted to reduce the number of unnecessary visits of people with compromised immune systems to sensitive locations to contain transmission [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. These applications enable patients and doctors to stay connected while tracking COVID-19 cases and developing prevention strategies [ 8 , 9 , 10 ].…”