INTRODUCTION Brazil is a vast and diverse nation divided into five distinct regions. According to recent data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE – Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística), 45% of Brazilian municipalities are characterized by low urbanization levels, emphasizing the importance of rural areas within the country’s territorial structure. This uneven urbanization pattern indicates significant disparities in access to healthcare services, particularly in underserved and remote regions.() shows the physician and specialist distribution in Brazil. […]

INTRODUCTION The number of people over 60 years of age has increased substantially in recent decades. According to the World Health Organization, this age group comprised 1 billion people worldwide in 2019 and is expected to increase to 1.4 billion people by 2030 and 2.1 billion people by 2050.() Thus, population aging has challenged health authorities to develop strategies to optimize care for this population. Telehealth (remote general health services through the use of information and telecommunication technologies) and Telemedicine […]

Highlights ■ Teleconsultation reduced on-scene time from 36.8 to 20.6 min (p=0.019). ■ Video-based prearrival anamnesis improved team efficiency. ■ Interventions and clinical profiles were similar across the groups. ■ Study supports broader telemedicine adoption in emergency care. ABSTRACT Objective: Ambulance transport time is an important metric in prehospital care. Limited studies have explored strategies to decrease on-scene time. We examined the effect of collecting telemedicine-based medical data during ambulance dispatch on the on-scene evaluation time of the prehospital team. […]

Highlights Up to 75% of COVID-19 telemedicine patients receive unnecessary drugs; this highlights the need for research. This study assessed the effect of guideline training and feedback on 200,000 telemedicine visits in Brazil. Under 2% of patients with COVID-19 received non-guideline recommended antimicrobials, reflecting high adherence rates. Targeted interventions significantly enhance guideline compliance for safer telemedicine prescriptions. ABSTRACT Objective: The quality of care and safety for Telemedicine-discharged patients with suspected respiratory infections are closely related to low rates of prescriptions […]

Highlights Forty-three percent of referrals from basic healthcare units to a specialized vascular surgical service were regarded as inappropriate. The main reasons for inappropriate referrals included study participants without an indication for surgery and those referred to the wrong specialty. A high proportion of inappropriate referrals resulted in the subutilization of highly complex services. Use of telemedicine will assist in reducing the rate of inappropriate referrals. ABSTRACT Objective: Consequently, in this study, we aimed to evaluate 1,203 cases of referral […]

Highlights Developed models to forecast bed occupancy for up to 14 days and monitored errors for 365 days. Telemedicine calls from COVID-19 patients correlated withthe number of patients hospitalized in the next 8 days. ABSTRACT Objective: To develop and validate predictive models to estimate the number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the intensive care units and general wards of a private not-for-profit hospital in São Paulo, Brazil. Methods: Two main models were developed. The first model calculated hospital occupation as […]

ABSTRACT Heart failure is the leading cause of cardiac-related hospitalizations. Limited access to reevaluations and outpatient appointments restricts the application of modern therapies. Telemedicine has become an essential resource in the healthcare system because of its countless benefits, such as higher and more frequent appointments and faster titration of medications. This narrative review aimed to demonstrate the evidence and unresolved issues related to the use of telemedicine in patients with heart failure. No studies have examined heart failure prevention; however, […]

Highlights Telemedicine played a major role in healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic. A statistically significant number of physicians started using Telemedicine since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic. Most physicians approve its use and intend to continue using Telemedicine in their daily practice. Objective The primary aim of this study was to understand the difference in the use of Telemedicine by Brazilian physicians before and after the onset of COVID-19 pandemic and their intention to continue using it post the pandemic […]

Highlights The evaluated method showed moderate reproducibility when compared to the gold standard practice. This new method had a high specificity and a low sensitivity. The observed high range of SpO2 levels between the methods could lead to a wrong patient referral. The use of telemedicine to assess oxygen saturation in patient with dyspnea is a viable resource, although requiring improvement.   ABSTRACT Objective To calculate the positive likelihood ratio to determine whether telemedicine is able to optimize referral to […]

ABSTRACT Objective To analyze telemedicine diagnostic accuracy in patients with respiratory infections during COVID-19 pandemic compared to face-to-face evaluation in the emergency department. Methods Randomized, unicentric study between September 2020 and November 2020 in patients with any respiratory symptom (exclusion criteria: age >65 years, chronic heart or lung diseases, immunosuppressed). Patients were randomized 1:1 for brief telemedicine followed by face-to-face consultation or direct face-to-face evaluation. The primary endpoint was the International Classification of Diseases code. The secondary analysis comprised length […]