The establishment of a telemedicine center during the COVID-19 pandemic at a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan

Background: Telemedicine involves the innovative application of technology to provide remote patient healthcare services especially those relating to emergency care and contagious disease spread. Telemedicine is less developed in low-and-middle-income countries like Pakistan and there is little publ...

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Autores principales:	Fibhaa Syed, Muhammad Hassan, Aamir Shehzad, Salman Shafi Koul, Mohammad Ali Arif, Rebecca Susan Dewey, Tanwir Khaliq
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. 2021
Materias:	Covid-19 Telemedicine Pakistan Medicine R
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/68e5b689cc0347e1b3eba17006dbb69e
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:68e5b689cc0347e1b3eba17006dbb69e2021-11-24T04:32:59ZThe establishment of a telemedicine center during the COVID-19 pandemic at a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan2588-914110.1016/j.ceh.2021.11.002https://doaj.org/article/68e5b689cc0347e1b3eba17006dbb69e2021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2588914121000071https://doaj.org/toc/2588-9141Background: Telemedicine involves the innovative application of technology to provide remote patient healthcare services especially those relating to emergency care and contagious disease spread. Telemedicine is less developed in low-and-middle-income countries like Pakistan and there is little published literature on its function and efficiency. Our institution was established to triage patients with COVID-19 symptoms to ease the load on emergency departments. Objective: To conduct an analysis of the first month of function of a telemedicine/tele-triage center in Pakistan. To determine in which ways it was beneficial to hospital management during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This study was carried out at the newly established telemedicine/tele-triage center at the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU) in Islamabad Pakistan between the 26th March and the 25th April 2020. Data were collected over telephone interview using a proforma to provide each caller with a C-Score (a C-score of >3 indicated observe at home 3–5-indicated home isolation with confirmatory testing and >5 indicated testing and transfer to hospital) representing their COVID-19 risk and informing the nature of the advice given to them. Data were presented using descriptive statistics. Results: The center received total of 857 calls. Fever cough dyspnea and flu were present in 327(38.2%) 268(31.3%) 107(12.5%) and 124(14.5%) callers respectively. Based on the completion of the proforma 774(90.3%) callers had a C-Score of > 75(8.8%) callers had a C-Score of 3–5 and 8 (0.9%) callers had a C-Score of >5. We recommended COVID-19 testing in 83 patients (9.68%) based on C-score. Out of these 83 patients 64 underwent testing and only 1 tested positive for COVID-19. Conclusion: In a one-month period the center was able to support patients by providing a triage service thereby preventing numerous unnecessary hospital visits and helping to protect healthcare professionals during a global pandemic. Telemedicine has great potential to help patient populations in low-and-middle-income countries.Fibhaa SyedMuhammad HassanAamir ShehzadSalman Shafi KoulMohammad Ali ArifRebecca Susan DeweyTanwir KhaliqKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.articleCovid-19TelemedicinePakistanMedicineRENClinical eHealth, Vol 4, Iss , Pp 50-53 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Covid-19 Telemedicine Pakistan Medicine R
spellingShingle	Covid-19 Telemedicine Pakistan Medicine R Fibhaa Syed Muhammad Hassan Aamir Shehzad Salman Shafi Koul Mohammad Ali Arif Rebecca Susan Dewey Tanwir Khaliq The establishment of a telemedicine center during the COVID-19 pandemic at a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan
description	Background: Telemedicine involves the innovative application of technology to provide remote patient healthcare services especially those relating to emergency care and contagious disease spread. Telemedicine is less developed in low-and-middle-income countries like Pakistan and there is little published literature on its function and efficiency. Our institution was established to triage patients with COVID-19 symptoms to ease the load on emergency departments. Objective: To conduct an analysis of the first month of function of a telemedicine/tele-triage center in Pakistan. To determine in which ways it was beneficial to hospital management during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This study was carried out at the newly established telemedicine/tele-triage center at the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU) in Islamabad Pakistan between the 26th March and the 25th April 2020. Data were collected over telephone interview using a proforma to provide each caller with a C-Score (a C-score of >3 indicated observe at home 3–5-indicated home isolation with confirmatory testing and >5 indicated testing and transfer to hospital) representing their COVID-19 risk and informing the nature of the advice given to them. Data were presented using descriptive statistics. Results: The center received total of 857 calls. Fever cough dyspnea and flu were present in 327(38.2%) 268(31.3%) 107(12.5%) and 124(14.5%) callers respectively. Based on the completion of the proforma 774(90.3%) callers had a C-Score of > 75(8.8%) callers had a C-Score of 3–5 and 8 (0.9%) callers had a C-Score of >5. We recommended COVID-19 testing in 83 patients (9.68%) based on C-score. Out of these 83 patients 64 underwent testing and only 1 tested positive for COVID-19. Conclusion: In a one-month period the center was able to support patients by providing a triage service thereby preventing numerous unnecessary hospital visits and helping to protect healthcare professionals during a global pandemic. Telemedicine has great potential to help patient populations in low-and-middle-income countries.
format	article
author	Fibhaa Syed Muhammad Hassan Aamir Shehzad Salman Shafi Koul Mohammad Ali Arif Rebecca Susan Dewey Tanwir Khaliq
author_facet	Fibhaa Syed Muhammad Hassan Aamir Shehzad Salman Shafi Koul Mohammad Ali Arif Rebecca Susan Dewey Tanwir Khaliq
author_sort	Fibhaa Syed
title	The establishment of a telemedicine center during the COVID-19 pandemic at a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan
title_short	The establishment of a telemedicine center during the COVID-19 pandemic at a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan
title_full	The establishment of a telemedicine center during the COVID-19 pandemic at a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan
title_fullStr	The establishment of a telemedicine center during the COVID-19 pandemic at a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan
title_full_unstemmed	The establishment of a telemedicine center during the COVID-19 pandemic at a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan
title_sort	establishment of a telemedicine center during the covid-19 pandemic at a tertiary care hospital in pakistan
publisher	KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/68e5b689cc0347e1b3eba17006dbb69e
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The establishment of a telemedicine center during the COVID-19 pandemic at a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan

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