Global Telemedicine Implementation and Integration Within Health Systems to Fight the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Call to Action
Open accessAbstract
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak as a pandemic, with over 720,000 cases reported in more than 203 countries as of 31 March. The response strategy included early diagnosis, patient isolation, symptomatic monitoring of contacts as well as suspected and confirmed cases, and public health quarantine. In this context, telemedicine, particularly video consultations, has been promoted and scaled up to reduce the risk of transmission, especially in the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Based on a literature review, the first conceptual framework for telemedicine implementation during outbreaks was published in 2015. An updated framework for telemedicine in the COVID-19 pandemic has been defined. This framework could be applied at a large scale to improve the national public health response. Most countries, however, lack a regulatory framework to authorize, integrate, and reimburse telemedicine services, including in emergency and outbreak situations. In this context, Italy does not include telemedicine in the essential levels of care granted to all citizens within the National Health Service, while France authorized, reimbursed, and actively promoted the use of telemedicine. Several challenges remain for the global use and integration of telemedicine into the public health response to COVID-19 and future outbreaks. All stakeholders are encouraged to address the challenges and collaborate to promote the safe and evidence-based use of telemedicine during the current pandemic and future outbreaks. For countries without integrated telemedicine in their national health care system, the COVID-19 pandemic is a call to adopt the necessary regulatory frameworks for supporting wide adoption of telemedicine.
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Researchers in some other countries found telemental health or online counseling services to be very effective.
“Researchers in some other countries found telemental health or online counseling services to be very effective (28-33).”
From A proposed framework based on literature review of online contextual mental health services to enhance wellbeing and address psychopathology during covid-19 (2020) · cites this paper as [30]
The paper’s main text (indexed under Abstract; no page supplied) reports telemental health services in China and Australia. It does not say researchers found those services or online counseling to be very effective. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredMany researchers found online mental health or telemental health to be effective during the pandemic.
“Additionally, many researchers found online mental health or telemental health to be effective during the pandemic experience (28-33)”
From A proposed framework based on literature review of online contextual mental health services to enhance wellbeing and address psychopathology during covid-19 (2020) · cites this paper as [30]
The paper’s main text (section labeled Abstract; no page given) reports telemental health services in China and Australia during COVID-19. It does not say those services were found effective or that many researchers reached that conclusion. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe COVID-19 pandemic resulted in widespread forced adoption of telehealth services to deliver psychiatric and mental health support.
“Additionally, although the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a widespread forced adoption of telehealth services to deliver psychiatric and mental health support [59–61], healthcare providers should identify ways to cater more healthcare workers, those infected by COVID-19, and the families of these groups through employer benefits and insurance companies.”
From Mental Health Impact of COVID-19 among Children and College Students: A Systematic Review (2023) · cites this paper as [60]
The COVID-19 pandemic forced physicians to quickly adapt and use telemedicine.
“The COVID-19 pandemic forced physicians to quickly adapt and use telemedicine [32].”
From Physicians’ Perspectives of Telemedicine During the COVID-19 Pandemic in China: Qualitative Survey Study (2021) · cites this paper as [32]
The COVID-19 pandemic was a reason for the surveyed physicians' high willingness to use telemedicine.
“The reasons for their high willingness were manifold but included the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine training courses, as well as young physicians in academic centers.”
From Physicians’ Perspectives of Telemedicine During the COVID-19 Pandemic in China: Qualitative Survey Study (2021) · cites this paper as [32]
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- Authors
- Ohannessian, R., Duong, T. A., & Odone, A.
- Affiliations
- Inserm (FR)
- Vita-Salute San Raffaele University (IT)
- Corresponding author
- Ohannessian, Robin
- Venue
- JMIR Public Health and Surveillance
- Publisher
- JMIR Publications Inc.
- Published
- 2020-04-02
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- e18810
- ISSN
- 2369-2960 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7124951
- OpenAlex
- W3013371033
- Cited by
- 1,051
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 23 · 2025: 54 · 2024: 86 · 2023: 114 · 2022: 221 · 2021: 306 · 2020: 246
- FWCI
- 165.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Healthcare during COVID-19 Pandemic
- Health Sciences › Dentistry › General Dentistry › Dental Research and COVID-19
- Keywords
- telemedicine, COVID-19 pandemic, video consultation, telehealth implementation, health system integration, telemedicine regulation, Italy, France, United Kingdom, United States
- MeSH terms
- Betacoronavirus, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Disease Outbreaks, Humans, Pneumonia, Viral, Population Surveillance, Public Health, Telemedicine, Coronavirus, Coronavirus Infections, Pandemics
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