WASHINGTON, United States (CMC) — The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) have created a tool that is being made available in Latin America and the Caribbean to maintain contact between patients and doctors by minimising the risk of transmission of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

PAHO said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, when most in-person health consultations have been postponed, telemedicine is once again coming forward as a way to maintain contact and ensuring the continuity of consultation and treatment for those in need.

The tool is being made available in collaboration with other institutions and experts in the region and Spain.

“Telemedicine is key to bringing care to places where health services do not arrive, and today it is a safe and effective way to evaluate suspected cases of COVID-19 and other diseases until services return to face-to-face mode,” said Sebastián García Saiso, director of PAHO’s Department of Evidence and Intelligence for Health Action.

“Measuring internal capabilities is the first step in starting to implement telemedicine services, and the tool we developed can be a guide to moving forward on that path.”

The tool characterises from one to four the maturity level of institutions to introduce medical care at a distance.

It said level one is when there is no telemedicine initiative and level four is when everything is ready to operate with full capacity in telemedicine services.

“In between these extremes are levels two — when there is progress, but the institution is still far from being able to implement services — and three — when good progress exists, and some telemedicine services could begin to be implemented.

“In addition, the tool facilitates the identification of potential gaps or areas that require attention and technical support from experts, and presents an opportunity for those institutions wishing to self-assess to redefine priorities in the face of the pandemic,” PAHO said.

It said the tool consists of a series of questions organised in six categories: organisational preparation, processes, digital environment, human resources, regulatory aspects, and specialised knowledge. Answers to these questions based on maturity level will allow analysis of the results by multidisciplinary teams of specialists and define the steps to follow,” PAHO added.

It said telemedicine as an approach is not new and many countries in the region and the world already have initiatives. Among the most common are tele-radiology, tele-pathology, tele-dermatology, tele-cardiology and tele-psychiatry.

However, the pandemic has led to an acceleration in the need to implement those virtual services that do not always have the laws and infrastructure necessary for their proper implementation. And that’s why the tool developed by PAHO and the IDB is key to making processes cost-effective, safe and patient-focused.

“The development of this tool, which is already being used also in accreditation processes in some countries of the region, is part of the support for pandemic response operations for digital health provided by the Pan American Health Organization and the Inter-American Development Bank. It is based on the models that different health institutions with different degrees of complexity have implemented in several countries around the world,” PAHO added.