Feasibility, Outcomes, and Safety of Telehepatology Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

ABSTRACT: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has hampered health care delivery globally. We evaluated the feasibility, outcomes, and safety of telehepatology in delivering quality care amid the pandemic. A telemedicine setup using smartphones by hepatologists was organized at our tertiary-care center after pilot testing. Consecutive patients availing telehepatology services were recruited between March and July 2020. An adapted model for assessment of telemedicine was used after validity and reliability testing, to evaluate services 7-21 days after index teleconsultation. Of the 1,419 registrations, 1,281 (90.3%) consultations were completed. From 245 randomly surveyed patients, 210 (85.7%) responded (age [years, interquartile range]: 46 [35-56]; 32.3% females). Seventy percent of patients belonged

SUBMITTER: Verma N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8251420 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature