Arq. Bras. Cardiol. 2019; 113(5): 1006-1056
Guideline of the Brazilian Society of Cardiology on Telemedicine in Cardiology – 2019
Marcelo Antônio Cartaxo Queiroga Lopes
, Gláucia Maria Moraes de Oliveira, Antonio Luiz Pinho Ribeiro, Fausto J. Pinto, Helena Cramer Veiga Rey, Leandro Ioschpe Zimerman, Carlos Eduardo Rochitte, Fernando Bacal, Carisi Anne Polanczyk, Cidio Halperin, Edson Correia Araújo, Evandro Tinoco Mesquita, José Airton Arruda, Luis Eduardo Paim Rohde, Max Grinberg, Miguel Moretti, Paulo Ricardo Avancini Caramori, Roberto Vieira Botelho, Andréa Araújo Brandão, Ludhmila Abrahão Hajjar, Alexandre Fonseca Santos, Alexandre Siciliano Colafranceschi, Ana Paula Beck da Silva Etges, Bárbara Campos Abreu Marino, Bruna Stella Zanotto, Bruno Ramos Nascimento, Cesar Rocha Medeiros, Daniel Vitor de Vasconcelos Santos, Daniela Matos Arrowsmith Cook, Eduardo Antoniolli, Erito Marques de Souza Filho, Fábio Fernandes, Fabio Gandour, Francisco Fernandez, Germano Emilio Conceição Souza, Guilherme de Souza Weigert, Iran Castro, Jamil Ribeiro Cade, José Albuquerque de Figueiredo Neto, Juliano de Lara Fernandes, Marcelo Souza Hadlich, Marco Antonio Praça Oliveira, Maria Beatriz Alkmim, Maria Cristina da Paixão, Maurício Lopes Prudente, Miguel A. S. Aguiar Netto, Milena Soriano Marcolino, Monica Amorim de Oliveira, Osvaldo Simonelli, Pedro A. Lemos Neto, Priscila Raupp da Rosa, Renato Minelli Figueira, Roberto Caldeira Cury, Rodrigo Coelho Almeida, Sandra Regina Franco Lima, Silvio Henrique Barberato, Thiago Inocêncio Constancio, Wladimir Fernandes de Rezende
DOI: 10.5935/abc.20190205
Presentation
In due time, the Brazilian Society of Cardiology decided to create a guideline on telemedicine applied to cardiology, also known as telecardiology. According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), telemedicine is “The delivery of health care services, where distance is a critical factor, by all health care professionals using information and communication technologies for the exchange of valid information for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease and injuries, research and evaluation, and for the continuing education of health care providers, all in the interests of advancing the health of individuals and their communities.” Such a seemingly simple and altruistic definition carries a wide range of potential implications at various levels, from an ethical point of view to a potential impact on clinical practice and outcomes. Hence, the importance of guidelines, organized by the medical community through scientific societies, in offering to all of those involved in the process a reference based, as much as possible, on expert opinion, current scientific evidence, and on respect for medical ethical and deontological values.
Considering that cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of morbidity and mortality in the 21st century in Brazil and worldwide, the opportunity to use instruments to allow more effective actions in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of these diseases paves the way to very relevant perspectives of better care for the populations and communities that we serve. At the same time, bioethical aspects and consequences should never be neglected, as they can (and should) undermine programs that, disguised as “medical,” fail to meet these ethical requirements. Therefore, regulated operating models based on guidelines organized by medical-scientific authorities are fundamental in striking a balance.
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