Teleneurology as a Solution for Outpatient Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Telemed J E Health
; 26(12): 1537-1539, 2020 12.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32552509
ABSTRACT
Background:
The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the need for social distancing have dramatically changed health care delivery. There is an urgent need to continue to deliver outpatient care for chronic neurological disease and teleneurology has the potential to fulfill this gap.Introduction:
This study reports the implementation and utilization of teleneurology across all neurological subspecilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials andMethods:
This is a retrospective observational study that identified all in-person and teleneurology outpatient nonprocedural visits from January 5 to April 4, 2020, across neurological specialties at a single academic center. Visit volumes were assessed weekly and practice patterns were compared before and after March 15, 2020, as this was the date of a major statewide stay-at-home order in Ohio.Results:
Before March 15 the mean in-person visit per week was 5129.4 and decreased to 866.7 after that date. The mean teleneurology visits per week increased from 209.1 to 2619.3 for the same time period. The overall teleneurology visit volume in the 3 weeks after March 15 increased by 533%.Discussion:
In a relatively short time frame of 3 weeks, a single academic center was able to dramatically increase teleneurology visits to provide outpatient neurological care.Conclusions:
This study demonostrates that teleneruology can be a solution for outpatient neurological care in the context of COVID-19. The increased utilization of teleneurology during this crisis has the potential to expand teleneurology and improve access to neurological care in the future outside the pandemic setting.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Población Rural
/
Telemedicina
/
Pandemias
/
Atención Ambulatoria
/
COVID-19
/
Enfermedades del Sistema Nervioso
Tipo de estudio:
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Humans
País/Región como asunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Telemed J E Health
Asunto de la revista:
INFORMATICA MEDICA
/
SERVICOS DE SAUDE
Año:
2020
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos