Telemedicine: Benefits for Cardiovascular Patients in the COVID-19 Era.

The recent pandemic with SARS-CoV-2 raises questions worldwide regarding telemedicine for housebound patients, including those with cardiovascular conditions. The need for further investigation, monitoring and therapeutic management are advancing practical issues which had not been identified for consideration prior to the pandemic. Using the marketing assessment, we identified the needs of the patients and evaluated the future steps necessary in the short term to meet them. The research found progress made via telemedicine in monitoring and conducting minor decisions (like up-titrating the doses of different medication regimens) in patients with several cardiovascular diseases (heart failure, atrial fibrillation, high blood pressure), as there is a worldwide trend to develop new telemonitoring biosensors and devices based on implantable delivered transcatheter. The worldwide telemedicine trend encourages a switch from small and hesitating steps to a more consistent assessment of the patients, based on high technology and Interventional Cardiology. Cardiovascular telemedicine, although made a sustainable effort in managing patients' health, has many obstacles to overcome before meeting all their needs. Data security, confidentiality and reimbursement are the top priorities in developing remote Cardiology. The regulatory institutions need to play an integrative role in leading the way for defining the framework of future telemedicine activities. The SARS-CoV-2 outbreak with all its tragedy served to reinforce the message that telemedicine services can be life-saving for cardiovascular patients. Once the Covid-19 era will fade away, telemedicine is likely to remain a complementary service of standard care. There is still room to improve the remote identification and investigation of heart disease, provide an accurate diagnosis and therapeutic regimen, and update regulations and guidelines to the new realities of technological progress in the field.
Competing Interests: L-NG is a Consultant in Cardiology at the Elias University Hospital in Bucharest, and a Lecturer at the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania. He also graduated International Economic Relations at the Academy of Economic Sciences in Bucharest with a degree in World Economy. He completed his training in Cardiology at hospitals in Birmingham and Oxford, and was subject of several honorary fellowships in Interventional Cardiology at Royal Brompton Hospital in London, UK, under the supervision of CDM. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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