Abstract
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic created an urgent need to act to reduce the spread of the virus and alleviate congestion from healthcare services, protect healthcare providers, and help them maintain satisfactory quality and safety of care. Remote COVID-19 monitoring platforms emerged as potential solutions.Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the capacity and contribution of two different platforms used to remotely monitor patients with COVID-19 to maintain quality, safety, and patient engagement in care, as well as their acceptability, usefulness, and user-friendliness from the user's perspective. The first platform is focused on telecare phone calls (Telecare-Covid), and the second is a telemonitoring app (CareSimple-Covid).Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study. The data were collected through a phone survey from May to August 2020. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-test analysis. Participants' responses and comments on open-ended questions were analyzed using content analysis to identify certain issues and challenges and potential avenues for improving the platforms.Results: Fifty one patients participated in the study. Eighteen participants used the CareSimple-Covid platform and 33 participants used the Telecare-Covid platform. Overall, the satisfaction rate for quality and safety of care for the two platforms was 80%. Over 88% of the users on each platform considered the platforms' services to be engaging, useful, user-friendly, and appropriate to their needs. The survey identified a few significant differences in users' perceptions of each platform: empathy toward users and the quality and safety of the care received were rated significantly higher on the CareSimple-Covid platform than on the Telecare-Covid platform. Users appreciated four aspects of these telehealth approaches: (1) the ease of access to services and the availability of care team members; (2) the user-friendliness of the platforms; (3) the continuity of care provided, and (4) the wide range of services delivered. Users identified some technical limitations and raised certain issues, such as the importance of maintaining human contact, data security, and confidentiality. Improvement suggestions include promoting access to connected devices; enhancing communications between institutions, healthcare users, and the public on confidentiality and personal data protection standards; and integrating a participatory approach to telehealth platform development and deployment efforts.Conclusion: This study provides preliminary evidence that the two remote monitoring platforms are well-received by users, with very few significant differences between them concerning users' experiences and views. This type of program could be considered for use in a post-pandemic era and for other post-hospitalization clienteles. To maximize efficiency, the areas for improvement and the issues identified should be addressed with a patient-centered approach.
Highlights
BackgroundThe coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had many tragic effects and has been seriously testing the crisis response capacity of health systems around the world (1, 2)1,2
A cross-sectional study was conducted using a survey of COVID19 patients who were remotely monitored on the two platforms (13–18)
A total of 85 patients with COVID-19 diagnosed or hospitalized at Center of the Université de Montrèal (CHUM) from April to June 2020 agreed to register and use the remote monitoring program proposed by Centre of Network Flow Optimization (CNFO) upon discharge from the hospital or after a hospital visit
Summary
BackgroundThe coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had many tragic effects and has been seriously testing the crisis response capacity of health systems around the world (1, 2). With the absence of effective vaccines and therapies to treat SARS-CoV2 infections, lockdowns, physical distancing, and quarantine measures were adopted and generalized to minimize the impact and slow the spread of the disease as vaccines were being developed and approved and were proven effective by the end of 2020 (1, 2)1,2 These measures have had negative impacts on healthcare users (1–3), including difficulties accessing care, isolation, anxiety, and depression, that have affected patients, their loved ones, and healthcare professionals, and had negative impacts on health outcomes and the quality of care provided (1–3). To counter these effects and maintain a high quality of care, health systems innovated and developed new models of care and intelligent remote patient monitoring (RPM) strategies that employ telehealth platforms (4–11).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
