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Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research

Date Submitted: Jun 8, 2020
Open Peer Review Period: Jun 8, 2020 - Jun 16, 2020
Date Accepted: Sep 9, 2020
Date Submitted to PubMed: Sep 30, 2020
(closed for review but you can still tweet)

The final, peer-reviewed published version of this preprint can be found here:

The Need for Sustainable Teleconsultation Systems in the Aftermath of the First COVID-19 Wave

Giunti G, Goossens R, De Pont A, Visser JJ, Mulder M, C.E. Schuit S

The Need for Sustainable Teleconsultation Systems in the Aftermath of the First COVID-19 Wave

J Med Internet Res 2020;22(10):e21211

DOI: 10.2196/21211

PMID: 32997642

PMCID: 7537722

COVID19: Interesting times for teleconsultations

  • Guido Giunti; 
  • Richard Goossens; 
  • Antoinette De Pont; 
  • Jan-Jaap Visser; 
  • Mark Mulder; 
  • Stephanie C.E. Schuit

ABSTRACT

The social distancing measures that have been adopted worldwide because of COVID-19 will probably remain in place for a long time, especially for senior adults, people with chronic conditions and other risk populations. Tele-consultations can be useful to ensure that patients continue to receive clinical care while reducing physical crowding, and avoiding unnecessary exposure of healthcare staff. All thanks to web-conferencing software, an empty room and the right devices. Adoption rates that would typically take months of planning, budgeting, pilot testing, and education are now compressed into days. However, in the urgency to deal with this situation, we may be forgetting that the introduction of digital health is not exclusively a technological issue, but part of a complex organizational change problem. This viewpoint offers insight regarding issues that rapidly adopted tele consultation systems may face in a post-COVID19 world.


 Citation

Please cite as:

Giunti G, Goossens R, De Pont A, Visser JJ, Mulder M, C.E. Schuit S

The Need for Sustainable Teleconsultation Systems in the Aftermath of the First COVID-19 Wave

J Med Internet Res 2020;22(10):e21211

DOI: 10.2196/21211

PMID: 32997642

PMCID: 7537722

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