Telemedicine - Application in cardiology

Background: As countries around the globe enforce social distancing and self-isolation to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine is emerging as a critical tool to connect physicians and other healthcare professionals with patients dealing with chronic cardiovascular conditions. Technology assisted healthcare delivery is virtually imperative especially in India with a large part belonging to rural and remote regions. The Information and Communication technology (ICT) which is the fundamental part of this technology is the ability to locally connect to a global network. The current pandemic caused by corona has highlighted the importance of this technology even more with patients showing apprehension to go to hospitals for routine check-ups. The emergence of Internet of Things (IoT) has further ensured that a continuum in care can be maintained, with patients having the opportunity to have wearable devices at their homes and using the Telemedicine platform for transmission of medical data from these devices for consultations. Methods: Literary search on the various applications of Telemedicine in healthcare with specific reference to Cardiology. Results: This article highlights our experience in the utilization of this technology for various cardiac conditions, comprehending the challenges of this technology at the practical level and the impact of making healthcare deliver accessible and cost-effective. Conclusions: Information and communication technology (ICT) and the advent of Internet of Things for Medical Devices (IoT-MD) has empowered telemedicine as a powerful model for healthcare delivery in an effective manner. Immense data generated from these devices have further encouraged development of algorithms based on Artificial Intelligence thereby improving clinical effectiveness and ensuring continuity of care. Though possibilities of improving clinical efficacy and healthcare outcomes through AI are enormous, we need to be aware of the associated risks and challenges and try to minimize those through multidisciplinary research, and renewed legal and ethical policies.