Telemedicine and Telehealth in Urology: Uptake, Impact and Barriers to Clinical Adoption

Abstract

Telemedicine has great potential in urology as a strong medium for providing patients with continuous high-quality urological care despite the hurdles involved in its implementation. Both clinicians and patients are crucial factors in determining the success of tele-consults in terms of simplicity of use and overall satisfaction. For it to be successfully incorporated into routine urological practice, rigorous training and evidence-based recommendations are lacking. If these issues are addressed, they can provide a significant impetus for future tele-consults in urology and their successful deployment, even beyond the pandemic, to assure safer and more environment-friendly patient management.

Digital health innovations in urology: telemedicine, wearables, and mobile applications – a systematic review of literature

“…The regulatory landscape for telemedicine, wearables, and health applications is complex and varies from country to country and even within each country [63]. Since there is little literature on the subject, the majority of published guidelines for remote care are founded on expert opinions [64].…”

The implementation of telemedicine in the follow-up after catheter ablation of arrhythmias: do we still need in-office consultations?

“…showing potential advantages such as the improvement of quality of life of the patients; the chance to implement web communication and digitization, especially in rural areas; the reduction of face-to-face visits, limiting the number of patients who must access the hospital/outpatients' clinic; and the favorable impact on the environmental sustainability. 1 Telemedicine can help to mitigate important healthcare challenges, such as demographic changes and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. It gives physicians and patients the opportunity to interact via video consultations, regardless of their location, thus offering cost and time savings for both sides.…”

“…Telemedicine has been rapidly developing in recent years showing potential advantages such as the improvement of quality of life of the patients; the chance to implement web communication and digitization, especially in rural areas; the reduction of face-to-face visits, limiting the number of patients who must access the hospital/outpatients’ clinic; and the favorable impact on the environmental sustainability 1 …”

Feasibility of implementing a supervised telehealth exercise intervention in frail survivors of hematopoietic cell transplantation: a pilot randomized trial

“…These goals can be accomplished by incorporating automated physiologic data collection assessed at the patient’s home, using existing communication technology (e.g. smartphone or tablets) and biosensors [ 18 , 19 ]. This new approach to exercise-based intervention has the potential to initiate a paradigm shift toward incorporating telehealth into cancer rehabilitation care delivery.…”