Telemedicine Adoption during COVID-19 Pandemic

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has challenged health care services placing a consequential stress on clinical facilities, and transformed how clinicians attend to patients. Telemedicine can serve as an alternative for face-to-face medical consultations especially in sylvan and isolated areas during the COVID-19 pandemic. Telemedicine is expected to provide effective health care at an affordable cost. Hence, the need to carry out a systematic review on the benefits, challenges and current status in the deployment of telemedicine as a means of care delivery during COVID-19 era. A literature review was conducted and research studies published between 2020 and 2021, were searched on PubMed, Google scholar, ScienceDirect, PubMed, ProQuest, Springer, Wiley, Taylor & Francis, for evidences detailing the relevance of telemedicine in the remote treatment of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic era. Challenges facing telecare include lack of a clear cut regulations and quality control regarding the adoption of telemedicine during COVID-19 era. There were also challenges of infrastructure capacity, technical know-how, and data privacy. Telemedicine has raised awareness on the penetration of digital devices among the various population age groups. Delayed implementation is also a setback for critical health cases. The use of telemedicine during pandemic era also resulted in effective management of non-COVID patients’ health. An overall preference for video technologies over telephone services was also observed. These notable acceptance of telecommunication facilities in not at risks patient has proven a promissory note for the use of telemedicine in post COVID-19 era. Thus, Telemedicine remains a significant improvement in health care delivery, irrespective of residence or location.