The role of eHealth, telehealth, and telemedicine for chronic disease patients during COVID-19 pandemic: A rapid systematic review

Hind Bitar1 and Sarah Alismail2

1 Department of Information Systems, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah,

Saudi Arabia

2 Center for Information Systems & Technology, Claremont Graduate

University, Claremont, USA

Corresponding author:

Hind Bitar, Department of Information Systems, King Abdulaziz University,

Al Ehtifalat St, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.

Email: 该Email地址已收到反垃圾邮件插件保护。要显示它您需要在浏览器中启用JavaScript。

Abstract

Objective: To summarize the current status of, and the current expert opinions, recommendation and evidence associated with the use and implementation of electronic health (eHealth), telemedicine, and/or telehealth to provide healthcare services for chronic disease patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Materials and methods: We searched four electronic databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and Web of Science Core Collection) to identify relevant articles published between 2019 and 2020. Searches were restricted to English language articles only. Two independent reviewers screened the titles, abstracts, and keywords for relevance. The potential eligible articles, papers with no abstract, and those that fall into the uncertain category were read in full text independently. The reviewers met and discussed which articles to include in the final review and reached a consensus.

Results: We identified 51 articles of which 25 articles met the inclusion criteria. All included articles indicated the promising potential of eHealth, telehealth, and/or telemedicine solutions in delivering healthcare services to patients living with chronic diseases/conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. We synthesized the main findings into ten usages and eight recommendations concerning the different activities for delivering healthcare services remotely for those living with chronic diseases/conditions in the era of COVID-19.

Discussion and conclusions: There is limited evidence available about the effectiveness of such solutions. Further research is required during this pandemic to improve the credibility of evidence on telemedicine, telehealth, and/or eHealth-related outcomes for those living with chronic diseases.

Keywords

Chronic, eHealth, telehealth, telemedicine, technology Submission date: 22 August 2020; Acceptance date: 20 March 2021

Opportunities of Telemedicine for Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery

Michael Nerlich1*, Tanja Herbst1 , Antonio Ernstberger1 , Markus Blaetzinger2

1 Department of Trauma Surgery, University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

2 AUC - Akademie der Unfallchirurgie GmbH Munich, Munich, Germany

Corresponding Author: Michael Nerlich, MD, Professor, Department of Trauma Surgery, University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany. Tel: 0941/944-6805, Email: 该Email地址已收到反垃圾邮件插件保护。要显示它您需要在浏览器中启用JavaScript。

Received February 4, 2019; Accepted April 25, 2019; Online Published June 6, 2019

Abstract

       Today telemedicine, or eHealth, is an important tool in everyday medical life. In all areas, from the preclinical to aftercare, significant improvements in communication structures have been seen in various eHealth options, which have had significant, positive effects on the quality of patient care in orthopedics and trauma surgery. Initially, there were several isolated solutions and many small individual projects; however, there was a lack of interdisciplinary and comprehensive systems in all healthcare fields. The German Trauma Society (DGU) together with the AUC GmbH took the lead and paved the way for a modulated, comprehensive, interface-compatible teleradiology system. Nevertheless, there are still deficits across all sectors which, in the future, will need to be optimized by eHealth methods and systems. Overall, there is an effort towards patient-centered solutions (patient empowerment). In Germany, telemedicine has gradually gained acceptance in various sectors and is being used nationwide. Telemedicine has proven itself, especially in trauma networks.

Keywords: Telemedicine, Teleradiology, eHealth, Orthopaedics, Trauma Surgery, Patient Care, Patient Participation

The Internet Hospital as a Telehealth Model in China: Systematic Search and Content Analysis

Yangyang Han, BS, Reidar K Lie, MD, PhD, and Rui Guo, PhD

Abstract

Background

The internet hospital is an innovative organizational form and service mode under the tide of internet plus in the Chinese medical industry. It is the product of the interaction between consumer health needs and supply-side reform. However, there has still been no systematic summary of its establishment and definition, nor has there been an analysis of its service content.

Objective

The primary purpose of this study was to understand the definition, establishment, and development status of internet hospitals.

Methods

Data on internet hospitals were obtained via the Baidu search engine for results up until January 1, 2019. Based on the results of the search, we obtained more detailed information from the official websites and apps of 130 online hospitals and formed a database for descriptive analysis.

Results

By January 2019, the number of registered internet hospitals had expanded to approximately 130 in 25 provinces, accounting for 73.5% of all provinces or province-level municipalities in China. Internet hospitals, as a new telehealth model, are distinct but overlap with online health, telemedicine, and mobile medical. They offer four kinds of services—convenience services, online medical services, telemedicine, and related industries. In general, there is an underlying common treatment flowchart of care in ordinary and internet hospitals. There are three different sponsors—government-led integration, hospital-led, and enterprise-led internet hospitals—for which stakeholders have different supporting content and responsibilities.

Conclusions

Internet hospitals are booming in China, and it is the joint effort of the government and the market to alleviate the coexistence of shortages of medical resources and wasted medical supplies. The origin of internet hospitals in the eastern and western regions, the purpose of the establishment initiator, and the content of online and offline services are different. Only further standardized management and reasonable industry freedom can realize the original intention of the internet hospital of meeting various health needs.

Keywords: Internet hospital, telehealth, telemedicine, ehealth, digital health, digital medicine, health services research, China

Does telemedicine reduce the carbon footprint of healthcare? A systematic review

Authors: Amy Purohit,A James SmithB and Arthur HibbleC

ABSTRACT

       In the rapidly progressing field of telemedicine, there is a multitude of evidence assessing the effectiveness and financial costs of telemedicine projects; however, there is very little assessing the environmental impact despite the increasing threat of the climate emergency. This report provides a systematic review of the evidence on the carbon footprint of telemedicine. The identified papers unanimously report that telemedicine does reduce the carbon footprint of healthcare, primarily by reduction in transport-associated emissions. The carbon footprint savings range between 0.70–372 kg CO2e per consultation. However, these values are highly context specific. The carbon emissions produced from the use of the telemedicine systems themselves were found to be very low in comparison to emissions saved from travel reductions. This could have wide implications in reducing the carbon footprint of healthcare services globally. In order for telemedicine services to be successfully implemented, further research is necessary to determine context-specific considerations and potential rebound effects.

KEYWORDS: telemedicine, sustainability, e-health, carbon footprint

DOI: 10.7861/fhj.2020-0080

Telemedicine: challenges and opportunities

Sang-goo Lee 1, Seong K. Mun, Prakash Jha, Betty A. Levine and Duk-Woo Ro Imaging Science and Information Systems (ISIS) Center, Department of Radiology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20007, USA E-mail: {lee, mun, jhap, levine, ro}@isis.imac.georgetown.edu

Abstract

       Telemedicine is many things to many people. Only until a few years ago, telemedicine was equated to video teleconferencing between physicians, while nowadays, perhaps the most active area in telemedicine is the store-and-forward model. There is a big shift from private and dedicated modes of communications to connectivity through the Internet. Presented is a collection of applications that provide snapshots of this diversity. The key technical challenges identified from these experiences are connectivity and integration. Also, at issue are the evolution process through which a telemedicine application evolves and the ability to choose the right set of technology for the diverse type of telemedicine applications. With the projected improvements in speed and quality of the Internet, wireless communication, and personal computational devices, it is expected that various concepts of telemedicine will develop into standard practices in tomorrow’s health care.

Telemedicine trends in orthopaedics and trauma during the COVID-19 pandemic: A bibliometric analysis and review

Arvind Kumar, MS, Siddhartha Sinha, MS, Javed Jameel, MS and Sandeep Kumar, MS *

Department of Orthopaedics, Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, New Delhi, India

Received 22 June 2021; revised 13 August 2021; accepted 3 September 2021; Available online 18 October 2021

Abstract

Objectives: In the wake of recent widespread interest in telemedicine during the COVID-19 era, many orthopaedic surgeons may be unfamiliar with clinical examination skills, patients’ safety, data security, and implementation related concerns in telemedicine. We present a bibliometric analysis and review of the telemedicine-related publications concerning orthopaedics care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such analysis can help orthopaedic surgeons become acquainted with the recent developments in telemedicine and its usage in regular orthopaedics practice.

Methods: We systematically searched the database of Thomson Reuters Web of Science for telemedicinerelated articles in orthopaedics published during the COVID-19 pandemic. The selected articles were analysed for their source journals, corresponding authors, investigating institutions, countries of the corresponding authors, number of citations, study types, levels of evidence, and a qualitative review.

Results: Fifty-nine articles meeting the inclusion criteria were published in 28 journals. Three hundred forty-two authors contributed to these research papers. The United States (US) contributed the most number of articles to the telemedicine-related orthopaedics research during the COVID-19 era. All articles combined had a total of 383 citations and 66.1% were related to the Economic and Decision-making Analyses of telemedicine implementation. By and large, level IV evidence was predominant in our review.

Conclusion: Telemedicine can satisfactorily cover a major proportion of patients’ visits to outpatient departments, thus limiting hospitals’ physical workload. Telemedicine has a potential future role in emergency orthopaedics and inpatient care through virtual aids. The issues related to patient privacy, data security, medicolegal, and reimbursement-related aspects need to be addressed through precise national or regional guidelines. Lastly, the orthopaedic physical examination is a weak link in telemedicine and needs to be strengthened.

Keywords: Bibliometric analysis; COVID-19; Orthopaedics; Telemedicine; Trends