TY - JOUR
T1 - Telemedicine in Your Pocket
T2 - An Alternative Teleconsultation Tool in a Pandemic and in Resource-Poor Settings
AU - Malwade, Shwetambara
AU - Marri, Mallikarjun
AU - Gundamraj, Rajendranath
AU - Yerravalli, Venkat Santosh Ramana
AU - Bellamkonda, Raja Shekhar
AU - Gvrk, Acharyulu
AU - Itumalla, Ramaiah
AU - Syed-Abdul, Shabbir
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
PY - 2022/8
Y1 - 2022/8
N2 - Introduction: Owing to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, digitalization is booming in all sectors, including health care. This study provides evidence of using a social networking mobile app as a telemedicine tool during the pandemic in India. Methods: The data include telemedicine conversations of 318 COVID-19 patients who were consulted over WhatsApp during the period March 31 to April 16, 2021, and monitored during a quarantine period of 17 days. Results: In total, 2,089 consultations were made by these patients during the study period. Diagnostic reports and recommendations were suggested through WhatsApp 74 times, and 30 patients were advised to admit themselves to the hospital due to increasing symptom severity. Conclusions: WhatsApp efficiently helped remotely manage hundreds of patients, thereby avoiding unnecessary travel to hospitals. Future study implies the need to acquire information on patient satisfaction during the teleconsultations and further encourage applications of commonly used social networking apps as alternative tools for consultations during a pandemic situation.
AB - Introduction: Owing to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, digitalization is booming in all sectors, including health care. This study provides evidence of using a social networking mobile app as a telemedicine tool during the pandemic in India. Methods: The data include telemedicine conversations of 318 COVID-19 patients who were consulted over WhatsApp during the period March 31 to April 16, 2021, and monitored during a quarantine period of 17 days. Results: In total, 2,089 consultations were made by these patients during the study period. Diagnostic reports and recommendations were suggested through WhatsApp 74 times, and 30 patients were advised to admit themselves to the hospital due to increasing symptom severity. Conclusions: WhatsApp efficiently helped remotely manage hundreds of patients, thereby avoiding unnecessary travel to hospitals. Future study implies the need to acquire information on patient satisfaction during the teleconsultations and further encourage applications of commonly used social networking apps as alternative tools for consultations during a pandemic situation.
KW - COVID-19
KW - e-health
KW - pandemic
KW - social networking app
KW - teleconsultation
KW - telemedicine
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85135596722&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85135596722&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1089/tmj.2021.0443
DO - 10.1089/tmj.2021.0443
M3 - Article
C2 - 34905414
AN - SCOPUS:85135596722
SN - 1530-5627
VL - 28
SP - 1215
EP - 1219
JO - Telemedicine and e-Health
JF - Telemedicine and e-Health
IS - 8
ER -