Implementación de la telemedicina en la asistencia sanitaria pediátrica durante la pandemia Covid-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a social, economic but above all health challenge. The telephone consultation that began during confinement, initially in primary care and later, with the relaxation of the measures, in hospital care, has been implemented as a care option. This study has been carried out to analyze the satisfaction of families and professionals as well as safety aspects of this care option. Material and methods: An anonymous survey was carried out on patients and health professionals who received and provided assistance by telephone between May 2020 and December 2020 in a second level hospital. The variables were collected and analyzed using Excel and SPSS. Results: 89.6% of the families valued the care positively. 91.9% of them correctly understood the explanations. In addition, 73.5% of the families would like to continue having a mixed care model and would integrate other elements of telemedicine. Regarding health professionals, 85.7% of them agreed with the mixed care system. For 76.1% of them, this model is more efficient, but only the 33% of them would increase telehealth. The 52% of professionals believe that this new model does not affect patient safety, although 61.9% of them believe that it does negatively affect the training of internal medical residents. Conclusions: There is a high degree of satisfaction of patients and professionals, both being predisposed to continue with this care model. It seems that the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the definitive establishment of telemedicine in hospital pediatric consultations.