The National Health Information Systems Centre (CENS) published recommendations on the use of telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic.
CENS published the document: "Telemedicine during the COVID-19 epidemic in Chile: Guide to Good Practices and Recommendations", with the support of various hospitals, clinics, universities, agencies and government institutions.
The guide recognizes what has been done in countries that have been successful in controlling the epidemic in their territories in terms of Digital Health strategies. Actions such as teleconsultas and remote monitoring of patients or detection of contagion patterns through artificial intelligence techniques, among others.
Telehealth and its various tools have been important in dealing with the pandemic, including since February WHO has made recommendations on the use of such tools to assess suspected cases remotely.
Similarly, in April, the Ministry of Health published the document "Guidance on the management and monitoring of patients with chronic diseases in COVID-19" in which they suggested that during the epidemic, remote care should be prioritized, either through telephone, through the digital hospital, or telemedicine services.
The guide consists of seven sections that includes recommendations with more detailed information which are:
- Clinical recommendations for the provision of teleconsultation services.
- Recommended basic tools and patient data security during the COVID-19 epidemic.
- Operational recommendations to successfully execute telemedicine processes.
- Recommendations regarding the physical space in which telemedicine care will be provided.
- Technical recommendations concerning the quality of the technological solution.
- Ethical and Legal Recommendations for the implementation of teleconsultation and Consent process during the pandemic.
- Telemedicine in Chile according to the Health Subsystem.
Recommendations include technical aspects such as minimal hardware and software requirements for remote consultations, as well as a stable internet connection, so service providers need to ensure that an efficient communication channel is established so that users know what these minimum specifications are.
In addition to informing users, health professionals must be trained to successfully implement Digital Health tools.
Within the recommendations of the physical space, CENS recommends adequate lighting as well as an adequate acoustic area to make communication as clear as possible.
The guide also includes a number of legal specifications, for the correct application of these services, due to the current circumstances due to the epidemic, in this suggest verbal consent by the patient when using telemedicine or remote consultation services.
Chile has a consolidated telehealth and telemedicine system, implemented in universities and in the public health system, that is why it is necessary to specify the conditions that must exist for the optimal development of these services.
