Telemedicine units for COVID-19: An experience from Madhya Pradesh

Abstract

On 31st December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) China Country Office was informed of cases of pneumonia of unknown aetiology detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China.(1) The first cases of COVID-19 outside of China were identified on January 30 in India and it has spread to 210 countries in all world regions by 10th April 2020, with more than 1.6 million confirmed and more than 0.1 million deaths worldwide.(2)
 Disasters and pandemics pose exceptional challenges to providing health care. Though telemedicine will not solve them all, it is well suited for scenarios in which medical practitioners can evaluate and manage patients. Previous work has specifically described the potential for using telemedicine in disasters and public health emergencies, wherein Patients prioritize convenient and inexpensive care, whether in-person visits becomes the last option for meeting patient needs.(3,4)

Telemedicine during COVID-19 in India—a new policy and its challenges

“…By issuing guidelines for the practice of telemedicine, The Board of Governors of the Medical Council of India (MCI), the erstwhile medical education regulator in India that prepared them in consultation with the premier planning body, the NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India), has attempted to fill an important gap: lack of legislation and a framework for ethical practice of telemedicine [5]. The guidelines list video, audio, and texting as three modes of communication and outline the provisions for their use of by practitioners, including limitations.…”

“…Providers included large private hospitals as well as individual practitioners. Union government institutions and the State-funded ones promptly offered services by electronic means [4,5]. Just after the closure of hospital units, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare established the country's telemedicine policy guidelines (25 March 2020) [6].…”

Telessaúde no contexto da pandemia da COVID-19: revisão de escopo

“…"Instant paper from the field" on rehabilitation answers to the COVID-19 emergency. Shokri, Lighthall (34) Telemedicine in the Era of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications in Facial Plastic Surgery WOS EUA 25 Indian Journal of Community Health Saxena, et al (35) Telemedicine units for COVID-19: An experience from madhya Pradesh SCOPUS Índia 26 Urology Luciani, et al (36) Teleurology in the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic: Here to Stay?…”

“…Os artigos incluídos na revisão apontam recursos tecnológicos que foram utilizados durante a pandemia de COVID-19, como videochamada (6,8,(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)23,(25)(26)28,31,34) , ligação telefônica (14,22,24,36) , vídeo (38) e videoconferência (33,39,41) , prontuário eletrônico e sistema para discussão de casos (27,37) , plataforma de monitoramento (14,35) , sistema de triagem (8,40) , rede social (30) , formulário online para monitoramento (20) , mensagens de texto/SMS (32) , otoscópio guiado por smartphone para teleconsultas (29) , plataforma móvel para ensino (13) e plataforma de teleconsultas (21) .…”

“…Entretanto, deve-se atentar que a telessaúde não deverá substituir o atendimento presencial, pois a prestação de cuidados a saúde necessita do toque humano e da proximidade entre prestadores dos serviços de saúde e usuários (8,35) .…”