The televideoconsultation in support of home management of the patient with CoViD-19 by general practitioner: the results in some municipalities of the Marche Region.

Abstract

The lockdown of Italy, the re-orientation of many hospital departments into CoViD-19 patient care wards, the need to prevent the general practitioners from being infected has been arising the need of access to medical care in patients isolated at their homes. The specialists of the De Martinis Telemedicine Panel, addressing e-health issues, have been responding to the requests of general practitioners in 14 municipalities of Marche region, by implementing the televideoconsultation to 98 patients, 68 of whom with, certain, probable or supposed to be CoViD-19 infection. The patients were managed from remote until the symptoms were over. Sixty-five patients adhere the televideoconsultation completely and were cured, also with home oxygen therapy and other treatments additional to the standard anti-inflammatory and antibiotic drugs. However, they got stuck to full isolation while making use of no external human resources for health and relying entirely on the electronic prescription of their general practitioner and the help of the cohabiting family members. Two patients abandoned, including one owing to the lack of support from the cohabiting family member, and addressed themselves to the hospital care. However, they required no mechanical ventilation and were discharged being recovered within shortly. One over 90 years' old patient was hospitalised in agreement with the general practitioner for management problems. The results are discussed in relationship to the procedures put in practice, to the perspectives in the use of clinical televideoconsultation in the Italian health system, mainly in support to the primary health care, and to the limitations due to the poor development of other e-health tools such as the citizen's electronic health record.