Telemedicine “will suddenly take a five-year leap forward in the wake of the coronavirus crisis and this will bring its real benefits up to the level of the potential it offers”, argues Felip Miralles, Director of the Eurecat technology centre’s eHealth Unit. He points to clinical process modelling, promoting prevention, monitoring and decision support as some of its main advantages.
COVID-19 “has made patent the need for new tools and new resources to be able to treat patients at all stages”, he says. They range from preventing infection, early diagnosis and traceability to monitoring and home care and potential switches from home to hospital settings and vice versa.
Telemedicine tools deliver “key functionalities” including “modelling and monitoring the clinical process” and the “ability to help take action as quickly and efficiently as possible in each of the stages of the disease,” adds Miralles.
