Previously submitted to: Journal of Medical Internet Research (no longer under consideration since Feb 12, 2025)
Date Submitted: Dec 20, 2024
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
From conflict to care: The crucial role of telemedicine in healthcare service utilization during war
ABSTRACT
This study investigates the impact of the October 7, 2023, war on healthcare service utilization within Israel's community healthcare system. A retrospective cohort analysis was conducted across primary care (family medicine, pediatrics, and gynecology), secondary care (orthopedics, ENT, dermatology, and ophthalmology), nursing, physiotherapy, nutrition, and mental health sectors. Data were collected at three time points: the first month of the war (T0), the month before the war (T1), and the same period from the previous year (T2), encompassing 7.25 million visits and inquiries. Our analysis revealed that the primary conflict zones (Southern district) experienced the most significant disruptions, with a 20% increase in telemedicine consultations, particularly in nutrition, mental health, family medicine, and gynecology services. Among these, nutrition services exhibited the most dramatic shift, with the proportion of remote consultations more than doubling during the war period, rising from 27% pre-war to over 52% during the conflict. This shift underscores the critical role of telemedicine, especially in nutrition and mental health services, during crises. The findings highlight the urgent need to enhance digital health infrastructure to ensure continued accessibility and quality of care under extreme conditions.
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