Leveraging Telemedicine for Chronic Disease Management in Low- and Middle-Income Countries During Covid-19
Michael A. Hoffer-Hawlik,
Andrew E. Moran,
Daniel Burka,
Prabhdeep Kaur,
Jun Cai,
Thomas R. Frieden,
Reena Gupta
Affiliations
Michael A. Hoffer-Hawlik
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY; Resolve to Save Lives, New York, NY
Andrew E. Moran
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY; Resolve to Save Lives, New York, NY
Daniel Burka
Resolve to Save Lives, New York, NY
Prabhdeep Kaur
National Institute of Epidemiology, Indian Council of Medical Research, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Jun Cai
State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Hypertension Center, Fu Wai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing
Thomas R. Frieden
Resolve to Save Lives, New York, NY
Reena Gupta
Resolve to Save Lives, New York, NY; Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) expanded access to telemedicine to maintain essential health services. Although there has been attention to the accelerated growth of telemedicine in the United States and other high-income countries, the telemedicine revolution may have an even greater benefit in LMICs, where it could improve health care access for vulnerable and geographically remote patients. In this article, we survey the expansion of telemedicine for chronic disease management in LMICs and describe seven key steps needed to implement telemedicine in LMIC settings. Telemedicine can not only maintain essential medical care for chronic disease patients in LMICs throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, but also strengthen primary health care delivery and reduce socio-economic disparities in health care access over the long-term.
