Will applications on smartphones allow a generalization of telemedicine?

Abstract

Background: Telemedicine is one of the healthcare sectors that has developed the most in recent years. Currently, telemedicine is mostly used for patients who have difficulty attending medical consultations because of where they live (teleconsultation) or for specialist referrals when no specialist of a given discipline is locally available (telexpertise). However, the use of specific equipment (with dedicated cameras, screens, and computers) and the need for institutional infrastructure made the deployment and use of these systems expensive and rigid. Although many telemedicine systems have been tested, most have not generally gone beyond local projects. Our hypothesis is that the use of smartphones will allow health care providers to overcome some of the limitations that we have exposed, thus allowing the generalization of telemedicine.Main body: This paper addresses the problem of telemedicine applications, the market of which is growing fast. Their development may completely transform the organization of healthcare systems, change the way patients are managed and revolutionize prevention. This new organization should facilitate the lives of both patients and doctors. In this paper, we examine why telemedicine has failed for years to take its rightful place in many European healthcare systems although there was a real need. By developing the example of France, this article analyses the reasons most commonly put forth: the administrative and legal difficulties, and the lack of funding. We argue that the real reason telemedicine struggled to find its place was because the technology was not close enough to the patient. Conclusion: Finally, we explain how the development of smartphones and their current ubiquitousness should allow the generalization of telemedicine in France and on a global scale.

Smartphone-based telemedicine service at palliative care unit during nationwide lockdown: Our initial experience at a tertiary care cancer hospital

“…[ 7 8 9 ] Newer technologies, e.g., smartphone-based applications and video calls, have made the service more dynamic. [ 10 11 ] It enables the PC physicians to assess the symptoms and provide psychological support to the patients and caregivers. It also serves as an effective triaging system during the pandemic to choose priority patients for home visits and screening of symptoms suggestive of COVID infection.…”

More room for telemedicine after COVID-19: lessons for primary care?

“…Overall, TM can include the storage, retrieval and transmission (via various communication routes) of personal data and information on patients' health (e.g., digital images and clinical parameters) to support clinical decisions by and between health professionals [10][11][12]. However, we still find it useful for our subject to return to the very first TM definitions which, without including the flow of information, were more strictly patient-oriented [13].…”

“…Last but not least, a major economic concern on TM stems from its financial impact on traditional healthcare services, especially in those fragmented health systems widely adopting tariff lists, if fees for TM services have not been fixed to compensate for the loss of income due to missed practices and consultations [12]. Besides hospitals, this can become a real hurdle for TM in PC too, notably in European countries where many GPs still work single-handed and risk losing a substantial proportion of their own personal income.…”

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“…Overall, TM may include the storage, retrieval and transmission of personal data and information on patients’ health meant to support clinical decision making by and between health professionals [ 8 ]. Nevertheless we still find valid and cogent the very first TM definitions that, without including the information flow, were more strictly patient-oriented [ 9 ].…”