Huerne, K.; Eisenberg, M.J. Advancing Telemedicine in Cardiology: A Comprehensive Review of Evolving Practices and Outcomes in a Post-Pandemic Context. Cardiovascular Digital Health Journal 2024, doi:10.1016/j.cvdhj.2024.02.001.
Huerne, K.; Eisenberg, M.J. Advancing Telemedicine in Cardiology: A Comprehensive Review of Evolving Practices and Outcomes in a Post-Pandemic Context. Cardiovascular Digital Health Journal 2024, doi:10.1016/j.cvdhj.2024.02.001.
Huerne, K.; Eisenberg, M.J. Advancing Telemedicine in Cardiology: A Comprehensive Review of Evolving Practices and Outcomes in a Post-Pandemic Context. Cardiovascular Digital Health Journal 2024, doi:10.1016/j.cvdhj.2024.02.001.
Huerne, K.; Eisenberg, M.J. Advancing Telemedicine in Cardiology: A Comprehensive Review of Evolving Practices and Outcomes in a Post-Pandemic Context. Cardiovascular Digital Health Journal 2024, doi:10.1016/j.cvdhj.2024.02.001.
Abstract
Telemedicine, telehealth, e-Health, and other related terms refer to the exchange of medical information or medical care from one site to another through electronic communication between a patient and healthcare provider. As telemedicine infrastructure has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic, this review provides an overview of telemedicine use and effectiveness in cardiology, with emphasis on the post-pandemic context. Pre-pandemic studies tend to report statistically insignificant or modest improvements in cardiovascular disease outcome from telemedicine use to usual care. By contrast, post-pandemic studies tend to report positive outcomes or comparable acceptance of telemedicine use to usual care. Today, telemedicine can effectively replace in person follow-ups to produce comparable (but not necessarily superior) outcomes in cardiovascular disease management. A major benefit of telemedicine is the significant reduction in follow-up time or time-to-intervention which may lead to earlier detection and prevention of adverse events. Nonetheless, there remain barriers to effective telemedicine implementation in the post-pandemic context. Providing accuracy and ease-of-use of telemedicine devices, ensuring adherence to remote rehabilitation procedures, and implementing widespread telemedicine infrastructure are such examples. Current knowledge gaps include the true economic cost of telemedicine infrastructure, feasibility of use in specific cardiology contexts, and sex/gender differences of health outcomes through telemedicine use. Future telemedicine developments will need to address these concerns to achieve widespread acceptance as the new standard of care.
Medicine and Pharmacology, Cardiac and Cardiovascular Systems
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.
