1. On the use of telemedicine in the context of COVID-19: legal aspects and a systematic review of technology
- Author
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José Flávio Viana Guimarães, Fernanda de Paula Silva, Fernando Pasquini Santos, Laureane Almeida Santiago de Araújo, Adeilson Barbosa Soares, Lígia Reis Nóbrega, Verônica de Lima Gonçalves, Cassiana Gabriela Lima Barreto, Gabriella Lelis Silva, Luiza Maire David Luiz, Daniel Baldoino de Souza, Angélica de Andrade Palis, Luanne Cardoso Mendes, Mariana Ribeiro Brandão, Ariana Moura Cabral, Viviane da Conceição Lima, Victor Hugo de Freitas Morales, Adriano Alves Pereira, Selma Terezinha Milagre, and Adriano O. Andrade
- Subjects
Telemedicine ,Technology ,Scope (project management) ,Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ,Pandemic ,Computer science ,0206 medical engineering ,Biomedical Engineering ,MEDLINE ,COVID-19 ,Context (language use) ,Legislation ,02 engineering and technology ,Telehealth ,Review ,medicine.disease ,020601 biomedical engineering ,030218 nuclear medicine & medical imaging ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,medicine ,Medical emergency ,Law - Abstract
Purpose The aim of this study was to carry out a systematic review of telemedicine technology and to discuss the role of legislation in the application of telemedicine technology within the scope of COVID-19. Methods The search for papers was conducted in the databases Cochrane Central, MEDLINE, and Embase. The keywords considered for this systematic review were (coronavirus OR “2019-nCoV” OR 2019nCoV OR nCoV2019 OR “nCoV-2019” OR “COVID-19” OR COVID19 OR “HCoV-19” OR HCoV19 OR CoV OR “2019 novel*” OR Ncov OR “n-cov” OR “SARS-CoV-2” OR “SARSCoV-2” OR “SARSCoV2” OR “SARSCoV2” OR SARSCov19 OR “SARS-Cov19” OR “SARS-Cov-19” OR “severe acute respiratory syndrome*” OR ((corona* OR corono*) AND (virus* OR viral* OR virinae*))) AND ((telemedicine OR telehealth OR “remote assessment” OR telemonitoring)). The review process was carried out by six independent reviewers, using the PRISMA-P method. Results As a result, a total of 34 papers were selected, which addressed the study of telemedicine technologies used in times of endemics, epidemics, and pandemics, focusing on COVID-19. Conclusion Telemedicine allows for care in remote areas and at a lower cost to the patient and, in the current situation, it can reduce the number of contagions as well as the occupation of beds in health facilities. Telemedicine may suffer from limitations, mainly due to current legislation, but in this pandemic era of COVID-19, several countries around the world have made their laws more flexible to allow more widespread use of telemedicine.
- Published
- 2021