TY - JOUR
T1 - Controversies in rheumatology
T2 - telemedicine-friend or foe?
AU - Dejaco, Christian
AU - Landewé, Robert B. M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved.
PY - 2023/8/1
Y1 - 2023/8/1
N2 - Telemedicine is increasingly used in rheumatology. While telemedicine guaranteed care of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is now increasingly used to facilitate triage of patients, monitoring of disease activity, and patients' education. In addition, tele-visits as well as remote physio- and psychotherapy are replacing traditional face-to-face contacts between patients and their healthcare provider. While this may save resources in a world in which the gap between the demand and the provision of healthcare increases, there is also a danger of losing essential information, for example by non-verbal communication, that can only be retrieved during face-to-face contact in the office. In addition, it may be challenging to build a trusting relationship between patients and healthcare professionals by virtual means only. Globally acting companies that see market opportunities already amply offer 'simple' technical solutions for telemedicine. While such solutions may seem (economically) interesting at first glance, there is a risk of monopolization, leaving the most valuable parts of healthcare to a small number of profit-seeking companies. In this article, the opportunities and threats of telemedicine in rheumatology are debated. A possible way forward is to complement traditional face-to-face visits with information gained by telemedicine, in order to render these consultations more efficient rather than replacing personal contact by technology.
AB - Telemedicine is increasingly used in rheumatology. While telemedicine guaranteed care of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is now increasingly used to facilitate triage of patients, monitoring of disease activity, and patients' education. In addition, tele-visits as well as remote physio- and psychotherapy are replacing traditional face-to-face contacts between patients and their healthcare provider. While this may save resources in a world in which the gap between the demand and the provision of healthcare increases, there is also a danger of losing essential information, for example by non-verbal communication, that can only be retrieved during face-to-face contact in the office. In addition, it may be challenging to build a trusting relationship between patients and healthcare professionals by virtual means only. Globally acting companies that see market opportunities already amply offer 'simple' technical solutions for telemedicine. While such solutions may seem (economically) interesting at first glance, there is a risk of monopolization, leaving the most valuable parts of healthcare to a small number of profit-seeking companies. In this article, the opportunities and threats of telemedicine in rheumatology are debated. A possible way forward is to complement traditional face-to-face visits with information gained by telemedicine, in order to render these consultations more efficient rather than replacing personal contact by technology.
KW - RA
KW - education (patients)
KW - health policies
KW - information science
KW - quality of health care
KW - quality of life
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85166390730&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/keac708
DO - https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/keac708
M3 - Review article
C2 - 36534821
SN - 1462-0324
VL - 62
SP - 2661
EP - 2664
JO - Rheumatology (Oxford, England)
JF - Rheumatology (Oxford, England)
IS - 8
ER -