TELEMONITORING OF SUSPECTED OR CONFIRMED COVID-19 CASES UNDER THE PERCEPTION OF PATIENTS ATTENDED BY THE HEALTH PUBLIC SYSTEM

Clinical Research Results Abstract Research Idea Abstract Service Development & Evaluation Abstract AIM: Evaluate a telemonitoring service for respiratory symptoms patients during the Covid-19 pandemic from the patient’s perspective. OUTLINE OF CONTEXT: Observing the increase in respiratory symptoms cases in a Brazilian city, an academic group along with local health authorities sought a strategy to promote early identification of worsening cases and contain its spread. Combining in health education and surveillance, they used telephone contact to expand access to users. DESCRIPTION: Based on national and international protocols, a strategy to register symptomatic patients was created linked to Basic Health Units. Patients were daily tele-monitored by a multidisciplinary team with questions about their physical and mental health, along with guidance on clinical care and environmental measures to control the pandemic and detect symptoms exacerbation. Patients' perception of the new model of care was evaluated. IMPACTS: 314 patients were randomly selected to be contacted. Those who consented were submitted to a questionnaire. The result reveals that 68.79% gave the service the highest rating; 95.54% had their doubts enlightened; 96.5% felt confident with the service; 86.62% highlighted its importance for their mental health. Nevertheless, 4.77% considered the follow-up period of care too long; 4.46% reported that the call had a bad quality and 0.64% rated it below. LESSONS: We were able to observe that the patients' point of view of this type of care was very positive for the most part. However, there are some aspects to consider, such as infrastructure improvements; better communication between primary care and telemonitoring, among others. MESSAGES: From this study, it was possible to verify that a telemonitoring service is an alternative tool to strengthen the health care of several patients. This strategy should remain and improve public health, since it allows the government to closely monitor patients, promote health education and meet other demands with public health system. Declaration of Interest Declaration of Interest: We wish to confirm that there are no known conflicts of interest associated with this publication and there has been no significant financial support for this work that could have influenced its outcome. References and Clinical Trial Registry Information 1. Dorsey ER, Topol EJ. Telemedicine 2020 and the next decade. Lancet. 2020;395(10227):859. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30424-42. Wu Z, McGoogan JM. Characteristics of and Important Lessons From the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak in China: Summary of a Report of 72 314 Cases From the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. JAMA. 2020;323(13):1239–1242. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.2648