Telemedicine in Covid 19 Pandemic Assessment Answer

Introduction

Telemedicine can be defined as a medical practice using modern communication technologies. Telemedicine involves using communication technologies like broadband, computer, and internet that allow two or more remote participants to exchange real-time information over the network. Many technologies make telemedicine possible, including digital imaging, distance education, audio and video, audio and video conferencing, electronic mail, and other networking technologies. Telemedicine is being used to provide healthcare to those unable to receive care. As per a recent study, it has been found that for patients suffering from covid 19, telemedicine has proved to be very useful in reducing the number of hospital visits.

Background

The telemedicine system described below was a wireless telegraphic system used to treat illness and injuries (Anthony, 2021). This system is called the electric telegraph, and Morse developed it in the 1800s. It was used a lot by doctors to diagnose the patient's diseases. This system used the transmission of the electric signal. Doctors use this system to diagnose diseases and treatments for patients. In the late 1800s, the electrical communication system changed to Telecommunication (Aslani & Garavand, 2020). There was a huge transition from using the electrical telegraph for medical treatment to using the telephone for the same medical treatment. In the early 1900s, Telemedicine evolved into telephone-based medicine. In this system, the doctor and the patient communicate over the telephone (Abdel-Wahab et al., 2020). This allowed the doctor to diagnose the disease by examining and observing the symptoms. The patient communicated with the doctor to treat his disease in the early 1900s. This system used the telephone for communication. The only telemedicine systems in the early 1900s were telephone-based communication systems. In these systems, the doctors and the patients used the telephone for communication. In the 19th century, one witnessed the development of telemedicine as a major component of modern health care. In the 20th century and 20th century, telemedicine was used in many fields, but in this pandemic, it has been applied in health care for many diseases and the treatment of Covid-19 patients in many countries. Telemedicine in covid-19 pandemic in 2020 is also called e-health or telehealth, or online health care (Bashshur et al., 2020).

Literature Gaps

(Demaerschalk et al., 2021) In a previous study, a mobile health application HealtheVet was used to track and manage veterans' health with chronic conditions (Tersalvi et al., 2020). The use of mobile applications for communication, monitoring, and clinical services is one of the emerging trends of telemedicine. Recently, the use of telemedicine for patients with Covid-19 infections has been explored. However, the number of papers on telemedicine and Covid-19 infections is limited. The use of e-medicine has been explored in many previous papers, and some have been used for monitoring various patients infected with Covid-19. However, in most of these studies, the use of e-medicine for patients with Covid-19 has been proposed. However, implementing it for monitoring and managing the infection has yet to be analyzed (Wahezi et al., 2021). One must have a telemedicine system that not only maintains the safety of healthcare professionals but also maintains the safety of patients. The improvement of telemedicine solutions can only achieve this as described above. There is a need to bridge the gap between research and practice in telemedicine (Shen et al., 2021). In recent times, there has been an upsurge in interest in research on medical telehealth systems, platforms, and interventions which is due to the advent of m-health, telehealth, wearable technology, e-learning, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and big data.

Significant Research

The telemedicine research took place in China, India, and Italy. The most common research areas discussed here are diagnosis, prevention, clinical trials, and care provision. It has not been proven that telemedicine was used to fight this covid19 outbreak (Rahi, 2022). Before covid 19, telemedicine: Telemedicine was first introduced to our world by radio in the 1920s, and then, with the help of the radio-telephone-television, the use of telemedicine has increased and has now spread to almost all sectors of human life. The Internet has also opened a wide telemedicine channel, and this paper focuses on how the Internet plays its role in the covid19 pandemic (Peden et al., 2020). After covid 19, telemedicine has advanced quickly and has been applied to the field of telemedicine. This review article tries to present the state of telemedicine in covid 19 pandemic and future telemedicine applications.

Consensus or Debates on Telemedicine

Debate on Teledermatology

Teledermatology is an application of telemedicine where a dermatologist is at a remote place, and one is making online consultations with a dermatoneurologist at home to give his/her opinion about a suspected diagnosis (Bashshur et al., 2020). Teledermatology may be either asynchronous or synchronous. Teledermatology can diagnose skin diseases such as acne, warts, eczema, dermatitis, etc.

Debate on Telepsychiatry (tel psych)

Telepsychiatry is an application of telemedicine where a psychiatrist makes a teleconsultation with a psychiatrist at a remote place to give an opinion on a suspected case of a mental illness. It may also be used as an adjunct to telepsychiatry (Fix & Serper, 2020). It may be used for making diagnoses, developing/giving treatment, and assessing the response to the treatment. It can be used for telepsychiatry as an adjunct to telepsychiatry for diagnosing, treating, and monitoring, especially in areas where psychiatrists are not available. It can also be used for telepsychiatry to monitor mental illnesses, especially those with long-duration of follow-ups.

Debate on Tele-education

In Tele-education, the educator may be the same or different from the learner. It is a form of distance learning where a person can learn from another at a distance, irrespective of geographical location and time zone (Huang et al., 2022). It may be used in training, continuing education, and education of special needs individuals. It includes various medical, clinical, social, and personal care services. It is based on the philosophy that the physician has to be available to patients 24X7, 365X20, and that distance can be a blessing and not a barrier. The modes of Tele-education include teleradiology, telediagnosis, telerobotics, and teleradiology on call (Luo et al., 2021).

Debates on Teleophthalmology

Tele-ophthalmology is an application of telemedicine where a physician, mostly an ophthalmologist, makes a teleconsultation with a physician at a remote place to give his/her opinion on a suspected case of a vision problem. It may also be used as an adjunct to teleophthalmology (Meyer et al., 2021).

Debate on Telepathology

Telepathology is an application of telemedicine where a physician, mostly a Pathologist, makes a teleconsultation with a physician at a remote place to give his/her opinion on a suspected case of a disease process (Nittari et al., 2022). It may also be used as an adjunct to telepathology.

Debate on telepaediatrics

Telepaediatrics is an application of telemedicine where a physician, mostly a pediatrician, makes a teleconsultation with a physician at a remote place to give his/her opinion on a suspected case of a disease process (Peden et al., 2020). It may also be used as an adjunct to telepaediatrics.

Debate on telehaematology

Telehaematology is an application of telemedicine where a physician, mostly a hematologist, makes a teleconsultation with a physician at a remote place to give his/her opinion on a suspected case of a disease process (Mahoney, 2020). It may also be used as an adjunct to telehaematology.

Debate on telegeneral medicine

Telegeneral medicine is an application of telemedicine where a physician, mostly a general practitioner, makes a teleconsultation with a physician at a remote place to give his/her opinion on a suspected case of a disease process (Peden et al., 2020). It may also be used as an adjunct to tell general medicine.

Debate on tele-neurology

Tele-neurology is an application of telemedicine where a neurologist makes a teleconsultation with a neurologist at a remote place to give an opinion on a suspected case of a neurological problem. It may also be used as an adjunct to tele-neurology (Rahi, 2022).

Methodology

Research purpose

This literature review aims to look at and understand how the wider medical community can use and adopt various telemedicine and related aspects. One needs a literature review on a topic and seek advice on what is required. Two areas need to look at, and the areas are as follows: The impact that communication mediums have had on patient satisfaction. How technology has changed the way that doctors interact with patients.

Research Process

The process of this telemedicine is done in three steps: First, research the problem by reading articles, searching online, talking with experts, and reviewing literature second, formulate the questions that should be answered in this study third, define the methodology.

Research Methods

There are different methods of telemedicine. They are:

Store-and-Forward

Store and forward telemedicine, or two-way video, is a real-time technology for exchanging patient information. In this system, telecommunication technologies are used to share patient information, and the information is stored (Shen et al., 2021). When a doctor wants to access the information, the information is sent via telecommunication technologies, and the doctor views the information. In store and forward, the doctor and patient can share information, which means that patient information is transmitted once, and then shared with the doctor who needs it (Huang et al., 2022).

Interactive Video Call, Also Known as Asynchronous Video Call Method

An interactive video call is also known as an asynchronous video call. This method allows doctors and patients to exchange information in real-time, but it does not have a live video link. Doctors and patients can ask questions or share information by telephone (Tersalvi et al., 2020). The doctor and patient can see each other's faces and use their hands. This information is not stored, so the patient and doctor only have access to the information right now. If the doctor needs access to the information, one must contact the patient again.

Interactive live Call

An interactive live call, or synchronous video call, is similar to an interactive one. However, the doctor and patient can speak to each other in real-time and show the patient the procedure (Wahezi et al., 2021). In interactive live calls, the doctor and patient see each other and can use their hands. Both parties can ask questions and share information. However, the information will be stored on the doctor's or patient's side.

Audio-visual Conferencing

 This method uses a real-time video conferencing link using an audio-visual device like a desktop computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone (Demaerschalk et al., 2021).

Best Methodological Approach

The interactive live call method is the best methodological approch in telemedicine because the patient can interact with the doctor directly, and the doctor can see the patient directly (Luo et al., 2021). Because it is cheaper, more private, and a good substitute for a face-to-face encounter, it also allows one to work in a private environment and to talk with patients over time without feeling as if one is Interrupted. It does not damage their skin as in the case of face-to-face consultation. They do not need to travel at least to meet their physician for diagnosis and consultation with the patients (Luo et al., 2021). They get a fast response from their doctors. It can be more efficient as the patient does not need additional time to travel to the clinic. when patients interactively live calls, they communicate more and better with the doctors (Nittari et al., 2022). The patient is less prone to misinterpreting as the doctors use gestures, tone, and facial expressions. There is a psychological benefit for the patient because his illness is more real and visible (Rahi, 2022).

Flow chat:

Figure 1 Telemedicine process cycle (Meyer et al., 2021).

Data Extraction

One has been observing the spread of COVID-19 and has also conducted monitoring for the occurrence of any adverse events as well as the dynamics of medical institutions (Barbash et al., 2020). Moreover, patients, medical staff, and other relevant people have been collecting the opinions of patients to understand telemedicine's actual condition. Furthermore, has analyzed the data from telemedicine and found that telemedicine is a good application to improve the situation and that telemedicine will be a viable option for the next wave of COVID-19 (Demaerschalk et al., 2021). However, one acknowledges that there are still concerns and doubts. After the spread of COVID-19, people have widely discussed telemedicine. Telemedicine is a way to allow the medical staff to communicate with the patient in a safer environment (Fix & Serper, 2020). There are still many concerns surrounding the applications of telemedicine in the recovery of COVID-19 patients. These concerns and doubts will help in the development of telemedicine more easily. The application and development of telemedicine in the treatment of COVID-19 are necessary because it is helpful to save medical resources, including manpower and medical facilities, to protect the public and to minimize the spread of COVID-19 (Huang et al., 2022). There are still many concerns and doubts about telemedicine. One is here to ask these questions and is trying to find answers to discussion and investigation.

Figure 2: Data abstraction table of Telemedicine (Nittari et al., 2022).

Findings

There is evidence that healthcare workers have died from covid 19. As with other viral outbreaks, when healthcare workers are infected with covid 19, they cannot self-quarantine. Quarantine would have been difficult with large covid 19 cases (Shen et al., 2021). Telemedicine has been proposed to respond to this and appears to be used widely now, including in China. This could, however, be in breach of copyright. The RSC has recommended against implementing telemedicine by any government to help with the covid 19 pandemic. It was seen as a breach of civil liberties and data protection, as the data could be passed from one country to another without sufficient protection (Tersalvi et al., 2020). Telehealth is usually a good option for non-critical patients, like chronic patients, to receive care and monitoring over distance (Wahezi et al., 2021). One has learned a lot about telemedicine during the current COVID-19 pandemic. The review will provide insights to health industry professionals to consider all the possible avenues of telemedicine to make appropriate decisions about using all the technological tools in telemedicine (Anthony, 2021). Telemedicine is vital to fight the global pandemic, and telehealth must be prioritized and given a high priority

Recommendations

One recommends using a remote medical consultation service to treat cancer (Luo et al., 2021). The integration of video telemedicine, also called telehealth or telemedicine, with clinical practice guidelines in oncology. Telemedicine for the management of cancer in a palliative care setting. An electronic communication tool: a smartphone app to provide cancer patients and caregivers an avenue for communication outside the clinic. Telemedicine has real potential for improving access, especially in rural areas, but this will take a long time to materialize (Meyer et al., 2021). There is good evidence that telemedicine can be used effectively for providing mental health services in some cases, but the evidence is less strong for other mental health problems. One needs to find ways of making telemedicine systems less expensive and more robust to make them accessible to more people, including those in low- and middle-income countries (Nittari et al., 2022).

Conclusion

The general conclusion of this study is that telemedicine is a very important and interesting area for the future of medicine and health care. Telemedicine is a rapidly evolving science, and significant development work has been done. The future of telemedicine in the next 15 years appears very promising, but it will be challenging. This review aimed to assess how effective health informatics can improve clinical practice in healthcare settings. However, it is important to remember that the effectiveness of health informatics depends on the clinical task, the context of use, and the users’ perceptions. Telemedicine may be used to reduce disparities, reduce costs and increase the quality of care for underserved populations. telemedicine has been effective in providing timely, quality medical care. However, it is important to remember that the effectiveness of health informatics depends on the clinical task, the context of use, and the users’ perceptions.

References

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