EN 
ES Doctor Lenisse Candelario - Telemedicine Department, General Hospital of the Plaza de la Salud
Source: Newspaper Today
They have changed the way we live. Current events have led humanity to make radical decisions regarding the way of doing things.
Although we live in a common framework, the truth is that there are many scenarios that individualize the approach with which we assume this situation, so we have a diversity of realities.
In the health context, there is a great demand for services from those patients who live with chronic diseases and who depend on follow-up with their doctor. Thus, we have a pending task, in addition to the one that came to us without notice and came to revolutionize everything.
Today, the provision of solutions in health services has two large groups, patients who need support in relation to COVID-19, whether for education, counseling or disease management purposes, and patients who have other conditions. acute or chronic, which also require support. So, we have a significant increase in demand, but we cannot give the traditional response to it due to the limitations imposed by the measures taken to contain the virus.
Thus, we use strategies that allow us to be present and accompany those who need us.
One of these tools is remote medical assistance, also known as telemedicine, which basically constitutes any means that allows for face-to-face interaction between the patient and their doctor, with the intention of identifying and, as far as possible, treating the conditions that are presenting.
The concept of telemedicine is not new and, in fact, there are countries where it constitutes a common practice, being of special value for the assistance of communities that have little or no access to physical care centers.
In 1924, an article titled “Doctor on Radio” appears in the magazine “Radio News”; in 1951, the first demonstration covering several of the states of the United States was given, using lines and television studios.
In Montreal, in the year 1955, Dr. Albert Jutras carried out tele-radiology, and in order to avoid the high doses of radiation that affected fluoroscopy, a conventional intercom was used.
In 1959, in Nebraska, Cecil Wittson began his first tele-education and tele-psychiatry courses, between his hospital and the state hospital in Norfolk, Virginia, 180 kilometers away.
The doctor-patient connection defines the foundations of disease control and prevention. Today's circumstances call for alternatives that help sustain this link.
Today, more than ever, health education makes a vital difference for individuals. Therefore, it should be assumed as an integral part of the interventions in the consultation.
In 1991, the Unesco Chair in Telemedicine carried out the first remote DNA quantification in the world, applied to image analysis of prognostic factors in breast cancer.
The interaction of health with communication technology has become the best combination for the massification of information, contributing to health promotion, education and prevention strategies.
An ethical, efficient and effective professional orientation can calm a person who feels overwhelmed. There is a significant difference in the provision of this service, ranging from informal conversation to the use of complex platforms that maintain formality and professionalism, preserving the legal medical framework that must support the provision of medical care.
