TY - JOUR T1 - Monitoring of COVID-19 patients via telemedicine with telemonitoring JO - Revista Clínica Española (English Edition) T2 - AU - Martínez-García,M. AU - Bal-Alvarado,M. AU - Santos Guerra,F. AU - Ares-Rico,R. AU - Suárez-Gil,R. AU - Rodríguez-Álvarez,A. AU - Pérez-López,A. AU - Casariego-Vales,E. SN - 22548874 M3 - 10.1016/j.rceng.2020.07.001 DO - 10.1016/j.rceng.2020.07.001 UR - https://revclinesp.es/en-monitoring-covid-19-patients-via-telemedicine-articulo-S2254887420300801 AB - AimTo asses if telemedicine with telemonitoring is a clinically useful and safe tool for monitoring patients with COVID-19. MethodsA prospective observational study of patients with COVID-19 diagnosed via a positive PCR test who were considered high-risk and who were monitored with telemedicine and telemonitoring in the Lugo Healthcare Area between March 17th and April 17th, 2020, was conducted. Two groups of patients were included: those in outpatient monitoring from the beginning and those in outpatient monitoring following hospital discharge. Every patient completed a clinical questionnaire with his or her temperature once per day and oxygen saturation levels three times per day. Proactive monitoring was done by getting in touch with every patient at least once a day. ResultsA total of 313 patients (52.4% female) with a mean age of 60.9 (SD 15.9) years were included. Two patients refused to participate in the program. Finally, 224 were monitored from the beginning and 89 patients were monitored after discharged. In the first group, 38 (16.90%) were referred to the Emergency department on 43 occasions; 18 (8.03%) were hospitalized, and two died. There were no deaths or lifethreatening at home. Including the patients monitored after hospitalization, monitoring was performed in 304 cases. One patient was readmited (0.32%) and another left the program (0.32%). The mean time of monitoring was 11.64 (SD 3.58) days and 224 (73.68%) patients were discharged during the 30 days the study lasted. ConclusionsOur data suggest that telemedicine with at-home telemonitoring, when used proactively, allows for clinically useful and safe monitoring of high-risk patients with COVID-19. ER -