Potential downside issues with telemedicine for individuals with chronic respiratory diseases

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Published: February 4, 2022
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Telemedicine refers to the use of communications technologies to provide or enhance medical care through mitigating the negative effects of patient-caregiver distance on medical evaluation and treatment. The general concept, telemedicine, can refer to a number of interventions, such as telemonitoring, tele-consultations, tele-education, tele-communication, and tele-rehabilitation. While telemedicine has seen steady growth its trajectory has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a tool in health care delivery, telemedicine is often met with patient satisfaction often resulting from ease of use and accessibility.  Additionally, outcomes may improve, although the medical literature is not consistent in this regard.  However, enthusiasm over its beneficial effects should be tempered by negative aspects, including the decrease in direct patient-clinician interaction (such as loss of information from the physical examination) and potentially serious privacy risks. Finding a happy median between positive and negative features of telemedicine remains a work in progress.

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Ethics Approval

The authors dedicate this paper to the memory of Dr. Claudio F Donner, a friend, colleague and a source of inspiration to respirologists around the world
Richard ZuWallack, Pulmonary and Critical Care, Trinity Health of New England, St Francis Hospital, Hartford, CT

Professor Emeritus, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA

How to Cite

Paelet, Lawrence, Jonathan Raskin, and Richard ZuWallack. 2022. “Potential Downside Issues With Telemedicine for Individuals With Chronic Respiratory Diseases”. Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease 92 (4). https://doi.org/10.4081/monaldi.2022.2132.

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