New development: ‘Healing at a distance’—telemedicine and COVID-19
Higor Leite, Ian R. Hodgkinson, Thorsten Gruber
Abstract
In extreme circumstances such as pandemics, the presence of patients in hospital emergency\ndepartments becomes untenable. Healthcare professionals and organizations worldwide are\nleaning on technology as a crucial ally to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak. This article\nfocuses on the positive impact of telemedicine for helping service provision, from enabling\nvirtual triage to mitigating the negative psychological effects of social isolation. The authors\ndiscuss the challenges and opportunities to telemedicine practices.\nIMPACT\nThis article explains how telemedicine and other e-healthcare technologies can benefit people,\nmedical staff and healthcare systems. One of the main challenges for telemedicine in many\ncountries is the lack of regulations. The authors call on policy-makers to facilitate wider\nimplementation of e-healthcare technologies, while considering issues of inclusiveness,\nprivacy and data protection. The article informs managers about the use of new\ntechnologies. Examples are provided of e-healthcare technologies implemented during the\nCOVID-19 pandemic, for example in terms of healthcare capacity and providing support to\npeople affected by quarantine.