Tracing of COVID-19 patients by telemedicine with telemonitoring

Martínez-García, M.; Bal-Alvarado, M.; Santos Guerra, F.; Ares-Rico, R.; Suárez-Gil, R.; Rodríguez-Álvarez, A.; Pérez-López, A.; Casariego-Vales, E.; Fernández Rial, Álvaro; Rabuñal Rey, Ramón; Rodríguez Álvarez, Ana; Pérez López, Antía; Golpe Gómez, Rafael; Gil Mouce, Cristina; Suárez Ramírez, Nicolás; Almuiña Simón, Carmen; José Cereijo Quinteiro, María; Daporta Rodríguez, Luis; Fernández Valdivieso, Elvira; Vázquez Fernández, Andrés; Barcia Losada, Andrea; García Martínez, Arantza; Portero Vázquez, Amparo; Trillo Dono, Natalia; Revilla Villegas, Concepción; Fernández Rodríguez, Raquel; García Armesto, Isabel; Giadas Piñeiro, Rocío; Rosa Rodríguez Macía, Ana; Carballada González, Francisco; Núñez Orjales, Ramón; Martin Lázaro, Joaquín; Alfredo González Guzmán, Luis; Mar Abad García, María; Gloria Álvarez Silveiro, María; Carmen Coria Abel, María; Díaz Sánchez, Javier; Jesús Freire Regueiro, María; María Casanova Quiñoá, Ana; José Dobao Feijoo, María; Luisa Fernández Rodríguez, María; Rey Ponce, Ángela; Monte Secades, Rafael; Jesús Pérez Taboada, María; Sánchez Fernández, Rafael; Pérez Peña, Juan; Pereira, Manuel; Conde Freire, Jesús

Abstract Aim To asses if telemedicine with telemonitoring is a clinically useful and secure tool in the tracking of patients with COVID-19. Methods A prospective observational study of patients with COVID-19 diagnosis by positive PCR considered high-risk tracked with telemedicine and telemonitoring was conducted in the sanitary area of Lugo between March 17th and April 17th, 2020. Two groups of patients were included: Outpatient Tracing from the beginning and after discharge. Every patient sent a daily clinical questionnaire with temperature and oxygen saturation 3 times a day. Proactive monitoring was done by getting in touch with every patient at least 11a day. Results 313 patients (52.4% female) with a total average age of 60.9 (DE 15.9) years were included. Additionally, 2 patients refused to join the program. Since the beginning, 224 were traced outpatient and 89 after being discharged. Among the first category, 38 (16.90%) were referred to Emergency department on 43 occasions; 18 were hospitalized (8.03%), and 2 deceased. Neither deaths nor a matter of vital emergency occurred at home. When including patients after admissions monitoring was done in 304 cases. One patient re-entered (0.32%) to the hospital, and another one left the program (0.32%). The average time of monitoring was 11.64 (SD 3.58) days, and 224 (73.68%) patients were discharged during the 30 days of study. Conclusions Our study suggests that telemedicine with home telemonitoring, used proactively, allows for monitoring high-risk patients with COVID-19 in a clinically useful and secure way.