Telemedicine during Covid-19 pandemic: Advantage or critical issue?

TLDR

Telemedicine supports traditional medicine by delivering clinical services when distance is critical and is useful for managing chronic disorders and palliative care. The University Hospital of Palermo has implemented telemedicine for chronic illness patients across departments such as Onco‑Haematology, Internal Medicine, and Dermatology, and the Legal Medicine department uses it for medico‑legal investigations of sudden natural deaths. During the Covid‑19 pandemic, telemedicine reduced infection spread and avoided patient visits, and even after the emergency it will streamline outpatient care, cut costs, and enhance doctors’ workflow, making the pandemic a catalyst for its wider adoption.

Abstract

Telemedicine offers a support to traditional medicine, delivering clinical services when distance is a critical factor. Although this tool does not replace a medical examination, during Covid-19 pandemic, it reduces the spread of infection and avoids the need for a patient’s visit. It is useful in the management of chronic disorders or for patients undergoing palliative treatment. The University Hospital of Palermo has applied this in cases of chronic illness caring for patients who cannot stop their treatment, such as Department of Onco-Haematology, Internal Medicine, Dermatology, etc. The Department of Legal Medicine of Palermo, in particular, is also using telemedicine to manage medico-legal sudden natural death investigations and dealing with the Public Prosecutor’s office of Palermo. Even after the Covid-19 emergency, telemedicine will be essential to streamline outpatient visits, while at the same time limiting costs, with significant benefits for the Italian National Public Health Service budget. In conclusion, telemedicine can offer a valuable support to the doctor’s activity by streamlining and facilitating their work. In this sense, the Covid-19 pandemic represents a positive input for the acceleration and enhancement of these tools.