Open AccessTeleconsultation during a pandemic. Experience of developmental pediatricians at Hospital de Pediatría “Prof. Dr. Juan P. Garrahan”
Author(s) -
Paula Pedernera Bradichansky,
Laura Selvatici,
Silvaápoli,
Celina Lejarraga,
Alejandro Mato,
M Gabriela Urinovsky,
Anabella Escalante,
Emanuel Bellantonio,
Enrique Santoianni,
Antonio Luna,
Encarnación Rodríguez,
Pablo Cafiero
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
archivos argentinos de pediatría
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.236
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1668-3501
pISSN - 0325-0075
DOI - 10.5546/aap.2021.eng.419
Subject(s) - covid-19 , humanities , pandemic , medicine , telemedicine , psychology , health care , nursing , political science , art , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , law
Teleconsultation is one of the components of telemedicine. Developmental pediatricians provide assessments and followup to children with developmental challenges. During the pandemic, due to movement and travel restrictions and the importance of continued care, pediatricians started working remotely with virtual consultations. The objective of this study was to describe the implementation of virtual care, the characteristics of patients seen, and their families' perception. A total of 122 teleconsultations were scheduled. Patients' mean age was 40 ± 13 months. The most common reasons for consultation were absence of and delay in language and behavioral difficulties. Although 16 % of families described some obstacles, all were grateful for the consultations. Virtual health care should be regarded as a complement to in-person care, alongside reductions in costs and travel time and the possibility.