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Objective The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is an unexpected universal problem that has changed health care access across the world. Telehealth is an effective solution for health care delivery during disasters and public health emergencies. This study was conducted to summarize the opportunities and challenges of using telehealth in health care delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A structured search was performed in the Web of Science, PubMed, Science Direct, and Scopus databases, as well as the Google Scholar search engine, for studies published until November 4, 2020. The reviewers analyzed 112 studies and identified opportunities and challenges. This review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) protocols. Quality appraisal was done according to the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) version 2018. Thematic analysis was applied for data analysis. Results A total of 112 unique opportunities of telehealth application during the pandemic were categorized into 4 key themes, such as (1) clinical, (2) organizational, (3) technical, and (4) social, which were further divided into 11 initial themes and 26 unique concepts. Furthermore, 106 unique challenges were categorized into 6 key themes, such as (1) legal, (2) clinical, (3) organizational, (40 technical, (5) socioeconomic, and (6) data quality, which were divided into 16 initial themes and 37 unique concepts altogether. The clinical opportunities and legal challenges were the most frequent opportunities and challenges, respectively. Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic significantly accelerated the use of telehealth. This study could offer useful information to policymakers about the opportunities and challenges of implementing telehealth for providing accessible, safe, and efficient health care delivery to the patient population during and after COVID-19. Furthermore, it can assist policymakers to make informed decisions on implementing telehealth in response to the COVID-19 pandemic by addressing the obstacles ahead.

Background and Aim: Medical universities need to fulfill many requirements to achieve the goals of the Holistic Scientific Map on Health development based on Iran's 20-year vision plan. This study aimed to determine information and communication technology requirements for the Holistic Scientific map on health from the perspectives of the administrators of medical universities. Methods: This qualitative study was done in 2017 using the Delphi method and the nominal group technique. Sampling was done purposively and heterogeneously to recruit 20 junior, middle, and senior university managers. The MAXQDA software (v. 10.0) was used for qualitative data management and the SPSS software (v. 16.0) for quantitative data analysis. Findings: Medical universities need to fulfill 20 information and communication technology requirements to achieve the goals of the Holistic Scientific Map on Health. The most important requirements are "creating electronic health record" (score: 691), "increasing internet bandwidth and speed" (score: 668), "establishing a customer relationship management system" (score: 667), "developing telehealth system" (score: 623), and "establishing a disease record system" (score: 586). Conclusions:Creating an electronic health record is the most important requirement for reaching the goals of the Holistic Scientific Map on Health. However, there are different barriers and problems in fulfilling this requirement.