Arq. Bras. Cardiol. 2023; 120(5): e20230281
Telecardiology and its Potential in Remote Areas
This Short Editorial is referred by the Research article "Clinical Features and Management of Patients Assessed by Cardiology Teleconsultation in the Brazilian Region with the Highest Number of Isolated Cities".
Many have been changes that have taken place in recent years in the field of Telemedicine, in Brazil and in the world, to face the COVID-19 pandemic. We made progress in understanding the relevance and impact of Telemedicine and its application in health care, especially in prevention and health promotion. Furthermore, to keep up with all these transformations, it was also necessary to move forward from a legal point of view. During the pandemic, Law No. 13,989 of April 15, 2020 allowed direct patient care through teleconsultation, which was not allowed in Brazil until then. Currently, Telemedicine Resolution No. 2,314 of May 5, 2022, and Law No. 14,510, known as the Telehealth Law, of December 27, 2022, are in effect, which allows teleconsultation throughout the national territory. This allowed areas previously devoid of specialized care access to specialists in real terms (synchronous) to provide care in various specialties.
Medical teleconsultation, defined as non-face-to-face consultation, mediated by Digital Information and Communication Technologies (TDIC), with doctor and patient located in different spaces, is one of the modalities of telemedicine care. In cardiology, this modality becomes even more important since cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the major cause of morbidity and mortality in Brazil and the world, with increasing importance as population aging occurs, impacting costs for the health system. And in a country the size of Brazil, the presence of specialists in all locations becomes very difficult, demanding a lot of time and high cost to make it available at all points of primary or secondary care.
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