Telemedicine/trends – ABC CARDIOL

IJCS

Editorial

Challenges in Telemedicine: Even When the Road is Hard, Never Give up

Erito Marques de Souza Filho et al. Alexandra Monteiro

“Even when the road is hard, never give up” – Tupac Shakur and The Outlawz

The above quote is from the hit song “Baby Don’t Cry” immortalized by Tupac and The Outlawz. The song is about a young woman who faces challenges and receives encouragement to persevere and not give up. In a similar way, telemedicine faces several challenges on an arduous path. In this way, imbued with a tenacious spirit, its users have had remarkable experiences. In the current issue of the International Journal of Cardiovascular Sciences, Esmerio and colleagues presented a successful application of a telecardiology service. They emphasized that the work contributed to reducing the distance between patients and specialized professionals, and they highlighted a high level of satisfaction for both patients and health Professionals. Experiences like this represent the relevant role of telemedicine in providing quality health services and generating value. However, these tools still face important challenges that need to be overcome.

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IJCS

Original Article

Implementation of a Telecardiology Service in a Health Unit in the City of Porto Alegre, Brazil: A Pilot Study

Francieli Giachini Esmerio et al. Silvia Goldmeier Eduardo Costa Duarte Barbosa Luis Marcelo Segredo … Rodolfo Silva Maria Claudia Irigoyen Bruna Eibel Patricia Oliveira Dias

Abstract

Background:

The implementation of Telecardiology in primary care in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil, is a viable and promising strategy. It would decrease the distance between patient and specialized professional services by reducing unnecessary referrals and improving the quality of primary care and satisfaction of patients and health professionals.

Objective:

To implement a Telecardiology service and assess user satisfaction using the CARDIOSATIS scale.

Methods:

This was a pilot study developed by a partnership between the Institute of Cardiology and the Telehealth Center of Rio Grande do Sul. The study was carried out at Eri Flores-Vila Vargas health center in the city of Porto Alegre, from May to October 2019, and included 21 patients attending the health center. The descriptive analysis of data was performed using the SPSS program (Statistical Package for the Sciences) version 23. Data normality was checked using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Statistical significance was set at 10%.

Results:

Mean age of participants was 43.8 ± 16.1 years. The most common risk factors in the sample were physical inactivity (81%) and smoking (43%). Most patients had normal electrocardiogram (ECG) readings. The time elapsed from the performance of the ECG test, transmission of the ECG traces to Telehealth, and return of the final ECG report to the health center was 0-7 days. The CARDIOSATIS scale revealed a high prevalence of “very satisfied” users for the general satisfaction domain, and only 14.3% of patients were dissatisfied with their health.

Conclusions:

Telecardiology reduced the distance between patient and the specialized professional, with a high level of patient and health professional satisfaction. Our study can serve as a basis for the implementation of a telecardiology network in the city of Porto Alegre in the future.