Telehealth for Noncritical Patients With Chronic Diseases During the COVID-19 Pandemic

TLDR

During COVID‑19, telehealth has gained prominence as it reduces hospital visits and supports home isolation, yet patients with chronic diseases—whose needs are often overlooked—have increasingly turned to video consultations and remote monitoring due to limited routine clinic access. The authors propose innovative designs that enhance patients’ sense of copresence with providers to improve engagement during the pandemic. The copresence‑enhanced design lowers anxiety, boosts confidence in managing chronic conditions, and may lessen patients’ reliance on providers when resources are strained.

Abstract

During the recent coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, telehealth has received greater attention due to its role in reducing hospital visits from patients with COVID-19 or other conditions, while supporting home isolation in patients with mild symptoms. The needs of patients with chronic diseases tend to be overlooked during the pandemic. With reduced opportunities for routine clinic visits, these patients are adopting various telehealth services such as video consultation and remote monitoring. We advocate for more innovative designs to be considered to enhance patients’ feelings of “copresence”—a sense of connection with another interactant via digital technology—with their health care providers during this time. The copresence-enhanced design has been shown to reduce patients’ anxiety and increase their confidence in managing their chronic disease condition. It has the potential to reduce the patient’s need to reach out to their health care provider during a time when health care resources are being stretched.