The Italian technical/administrative recommendations for telemedicine in clinical neurophysiology

Abstract

Recent advances in technology, information technology, Internet networks, and, more recently, fiber optics in industrialized countries allow the exchange of a huge amount of data, in real time, across the globe. The acquisition of increasingly sophisticated technologies has made it possible to develop telemedicine, by which the specialist’s evaluation can be carried out on the patient even remotely. In Italy, this very useful tool, although possible from a technological and information technology point of view, has not been developed because of the lack of clear and univocal rules and of major administrative obstacles related to the Italian Public Health System. To promote telemedicine implementation in Italy, the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology and the Italian Society of Telemedicine together with the National Centre for Telemedicine and New Assistive Technologies of the Italian Higher Institute of Health prepared these inter-society recommendations. Because of potential forensic value of these recommendations, they were prepared considering the current regulations and the General Data Protection Regulation and will provide the basis for a Consensus Conference planned to discuss and prepare National Telemedicine Guidelines.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on People With Epilepsy. An Italian Survey and a Global Perspective

“…It should be mentioned that for the patients in our study, telemedicine took the form of telephone consultations as we were not equipped for videocalls, and this could have influenced their answers. Moreover, as elsewhere, telemedicine did not allow further diagnostic (15,18,19). According to an online survey endorsed by the main national neurophysiological scientific societies, the number of EEGs performed in neurophysiological centers all over Italy dropped by 76% during the 1st weeks of lockdown (18).…”

“…According to an online survey endorsed by the main national neurophysiological scientific societies, the number of EEGs performed in neurophysiological centers all over Italy dropped by 76% during the 1st weeks of lockdown (18). The COVID emergency has accelerated the implementation of telemedicine in Italy leading also to the issue of specific national recommendations on its use in the context of neurophysiology, including remote inter-hospital consultations (19), which could allow EEG recording while limiting people travels to reach a tertiary center, possibly impacting both on telemedicine effectiveness and on patients' satisfaction.…”

“…The first half of 2020 saw a rapid spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections worldwide. The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID- 19), the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, quickly reached pandemic proportions, seriously impacting the health systems of many countries. Italy was the first country in the Western world to be hard hit by the disease.…”

Cognitive Telerehabilitation for Older Adults With Neurodegenerative Diseases in the COVID-19 Era: A Perspective Study

“…For instance, Salawu and colleagues ( 60 ) have proposed a multidisciplinary TR program for patients with COVID-19 discharged from hospitals with residual rehabilitation needs. However, telemedicine and telerehabilitation should be implemented also in non-COVID patients in various settings of neurological care ( 36 , 62 , 63 ). From this perspective, Motolese and colleagues ( 36 ) explored the feasibility of a smartphone application for monitoring motor and cognitive performance of non-demented Parkinson's disease outpatients during the lockdown.…”

Are telemedicine systems effective healthcare solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic?

“…Accordingly, the possibility that crowding will be lessened also reduces virus spread, not only for patients but also for healthcare personnel. 8 The usefulness of telemedicine solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic has already been confirmed in the case of remote areas in China, where the mortality rates and the virus spread were significantly higher than in cities with good healthcare systems.…”