Betancourt, J.A.; Rosenberg, M.A.; Zevallos, A.; Brown, J.R.; Mileski, M. The Impact of COVID-19 on Telemedicine Utilization Across Multiple Service Lines in the United States. Healthcare2020, 8, 380.
Betancourt, J.A.; Rosenberg, M.A.; Zevallos, A.; Brown, J.R.; Mileski, M. The Impact of COVID-19 on Telemedicine Utilization Across Multiple Service Lines in the United States. Healthcare 2020, 8, 380.
Betancourt, J.A.; Rosenberg, M.A.; Zevallos, A.; Brown, J.R.; Mileski, M. The Impact of COVID-19 on Telemedicine Utilization Across Multiple Service Lines in the United States. Healthcare2020, 8, 380.
Betancourt, J.A.; Rosenberg, M.A.; Zevallos, A.; Brown, J.R.; Mileski, M. The Impact of COVID-19 on Telemedicine Utilization Across Multiple Service Lines in the United States. Healthcare 2020, 8, 380.
Abstract
Background – The profound impact of COVID-19 on the U.S. healthcare industry cannot be overstated. Telemedicine utilization exploded virtually overnight as healthcare systems, hospitals, and clinical practices rushed to implement this delivery model to ensure accessibility and continuity of patient care access across myriad service lines and dimensions. Objective – The purpose of this systematic literature review is to examine the measures that were implemented to accommodate community and individual patient needs not only to afford access to critical services, but to also maintain safety standards for affected parties. Methods – Boolean operators were crafted with the expressed intent of identifying articles within multiple database domains germane to our chosen topic. Results – 52,206 articles were captured from a general search query and subsequently distilled to 44 through group consensus based on pertinence to our basic research question. The four health service lines identified encountered similar, surmountable obstacles in their care delivery models, but adapted accordingly to the respective needs of their patient populations. Conclusion – This review showcased the healthcare industry’s ability to rapidly acclimate and change due to the pervasive spread of COVID-19 throughout the U.S. Although imperfect, unique responses were developed within telemedicine platforms to broadly and effectively mitigate disruptions in care and treatment modalities.
Keywords
telemedicine; COVID-19; telehealth; health service lines; pandemic
Subject
Medicine and Pharmacology, Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
