Need for Telehealth in the Era of Covid-19
Sara Ahmed Esmat Shoman (1), Tamer Emara
(2), Heba Gamal Saber (3) and Mohamed Farouk Allam (1)
1. Department of Family Medicine, Faculty
of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Egypt
2. Department of Neurology, Faculty of
Medicine, Ain Shams University, Egypt
3. Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology,
Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Egypt
Biomedical Journal of
Scientific & Technical Research 20202;31(3):24303-24305.
DOI: 10.26717/BJSTR.2020.31.005118
ABSTRACT
Telehealth means the usage of
telecommunications and virtual technology in facilitating healthcare services
in far areas. Telehealth is a multi- phasic system as it serves patients and
healthcare workers (HCWs) by providing them with helpful tool for proper
healthcare services and giving HCWs the chance to receive training sessions and
conducting research. Telehealth proved to be practical in outbreaks and
emergency settings as it provides platforms that are easy in usage and
accessible for health, education, training, and others. Since the beginning of
COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth services have been of great importance in
diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and control of corona virus infection.
Telehealth application during COVID-19 pandemic appears in screening and
triaging the patients according to their symptoms through phone screening,
online tools, mobile applications, and virtual visits to evaluate their
conditions, and making the appropriate decisions. Also, telehealth is used in
contacts tracing to determine whether they are infectious and need to be
quarantined. The importance of telehealth extends to include following up of
home isolated patients with mild and moderate symptoms to avoid overcrowding of
healthcare facilities, in addition to delivering care by a diverse experienced
team to provide and adjust treatment plan. Finally, telehealth sustains
continuous care by keeping away from negative outcomes that could occur by
delaying due to COVID-19.
Keywords: Telehealth; Healthcare Services;
Virtual care; COVID-19; Remote treatment; Pandemic
Biomedical Journal of
Scientific & Technical Research 20202;31(3):24303-24305.
