Telemedical management of symptomatic COVID-19 outpatients

Abstract

Background COVID-19 remains a challenge to individual health and healthcare resources worldwide. Telemedical surveillance might minimise hospitalisation and direct patient–physician contacts. Yet, randomised clinical trials evaluating telemedical management of COVID-19 patients are lacking. Methods COVID-SMART is a randomised, open-label, controlled clinical trial investigating whether telemedicine reduces the primary end-point of hospitalisation or any unscheduled utilisation of an emergency medical service within 30 days of follow-up. Key secondary end-points included mortality and primary end-point components. We enrolled acutely infected SARS-CoV-2 patients suitable for outpatient care. All presented with ≥1 risk factor for an adverse COVID-19 course. Patients were randomised 1:1 into a control group receiving standard of care and an intervention group receiving smartphone-based assessment of oxygen saturation, heart rate and electrocardiogram, and telemedical counselling via a 24/7 emergency hotline. Results Of 607 enrolled patients (mean±sd age 46.7±13.5 years), 304 were randomised into the intervention and 303 into the control group. The primary end-point occurred in 6.9% (n=21) of the intervention and in 9.6% (n=29) of the control group (hazard ratio (HR) 0.72, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.41–1.26; p=0.24). No deaths occurred during follow-up. Fewer intervention group participants utilised outpatient-based emergency medical services (HR 0.43, 95% CI 0.20–0.90; p=0.03). Conclusions COVID-SMART is the first randomised clinical trial assessing the benefit of telemedicine in an acute respiratory infectious disease. Whereas telemedical management did not reduce the primary end-point of hospitalisation, fewer intervention group patients used outpatient-based emergency services, suggesting a potential benefit for less-acutely infected individuals.