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. 2022 Dec 7;46(12):105.
doi: 10.1007/s10916-022-01887-z.

Telemedicine During COVID-19 Pandemic: Lesson Learned from the Lazio Region Infectious Diseases and Emergency Department Network

Gaetano Maffongelli #  1 , Nazario Bevilacqua #  1 , Serena Vita  2 , Tommaso Ascoli Bartoli  1 , Angela Corpolongo  1 , Domenico Benvenuto  1 , Tiziana Chiriaco  3 , Giuseppe Spiga  4 , Sergio Ribaldi  5 , Valentina Zirretta  6 , Giuseppe Ippolito  1 , Francesco Nicola Lauria  1 , Francesco Vaia  1 , Emanuele Nicastri  1 ; COVID Group of the Lazio Region; Bed Manager Group at INMI Spallanzani
Collaborators, Affiliations

Telemedicine During COVID-19 Pandemic: Lesson Learned from the Lazio Region Infectious Diseases and Emergency Department Network

Gaetano Maffongelli et al. J Med Syst. .

Abstract

Telemedicine and teleconsultation can be powerful and useful tools for patients to hamper the physical barriers to access to health care services during COVID-19 pandemic. We describe the teleconsultation (TC) model in the Lazio Region. It uses a hub-and-spoke network system on geographic regional basis using a web based digital platform, termed ADVICE with the aim to connect regional Emergency Departments (EDs) and Infectious Diseases (ID) acute and critical care settings for patients with acute ID syndrome. Between January 2020 and June 2021, the ADVICE platform received 18.686 TCs: of them, 10838 requests (58%) were for ID TCs in 7996 patients, followed by 2555(13%) requests for trauma, 2286(12%) for acute complex syndrome and 1681 (8%) for Stroke TCs. Three quarter of ID TCs were requested for SARS-COV-2 infection, followed by sepsis management in 7% and tuberculosis in 6%. In 5416 TCs, 68%, diagnostic investigations and therapeutic prescriptions were recommended before admission, in 1941 TCs, 24%, the recommendation was patient admission and in 608 TCs, 7%, was to discharge patient at home. Telemedicine have ensured high-profile consultations for ID patients and during COVID-19 the use of this resource optimized clinical patient management.

Keywords: COVID-19; Infectious Diseases; Surveillance; Telemedicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Model of the Infectious Disease emergencies Network in Lazio Region
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Infectious Disease Teleconsultations and number of COVID-19 in Lazio region trends during the observation period
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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