This paper is in the following e-collection/theme issue:

TTRN CPH 2022: "Digital Health beyond COVID-19: Lessons Learned" (37)

Published on in Vol 8, No 1 (2022): Jan-Dec

Preprints (earlier versions) of this paper are available at https://preprints.jmir.org/preprint/41059, first published .
Systematic Approaches for Telemedicine and Data Coordination for COVID-19 in Baja California, Mexico

Systematic Approaches for Telemedicine and Data Coordination for COVID-19 in Baja California, Mexico

Systematic Approaches for Telemedicine and Data Coordination for COVID-19 in Baja California, Mexico

Authors of this article:

Cristian Castillo Olea Jr1 Author Orcid Image ;   Carlos Vera Hernandez Sr1 ;   Amellaly Mendias Alarcon1 ;   Roberto Conte Galvan Sr2
Article Authors Cited by Tweetations Metrics

    Abstract

    1School of Medicine and Psychology, Autonomous University of Baja California, Tijuana, Mexico

    2Department of Electronics, Ensenada Center of Scientific Research and Higher Education, Ensenada, Mexico

    Corresponding Author:

    Cristian Castillo Olea Jr, PhD

    School of Medicine and Psychology

    Autonomous University of Baja California

    Paque Industrial Tijuana

    Tijuana, 22420

    Mexico

    Phone: 52 5574302237

    Email: castillo.cristian@uabc.edu.mx


    Background: In 2019, the State of Baja California had a total population of 3,682,063 inhabitants; in the city of Tijuana, there were only 13 Red Cross ambulances and 1 fire department ambulance to attend to the prehospital emergencies of almost 2 million inhabitants.

    Objective: This study aimed to provide information to the public; evaluate COVID-19 in real time; and track regional, municipal, and state-wide data in real time that inform supply chains and resource allocation with the anticipation of a surge in COVID-19 cases.

    Methods: Our model is based on human-centric design factors and cross-disciplinary collaborations for the scalable, data-driven enablement of smartphone teleconsultation technologies to link hospitals, clinics, and emergency medical services for point-of-care assessments of COVID-19 testing and subsequent treatment and quarantine decisions.

    Results: The Telehealth System handled 28,964 telephone calls in the period from April 1, 2020, to January 30, 2022, and accumulated 20,287 working hours. In total, 13,721 follow-up calls were made to quarantined patients, providing medical and psychological counseling, and 12,643 calls were received and transferred from the 911 system, of which 4964 calls from patients with respiratory symptoms required urgent ambulance dispatch.

    Conclusions: Telehealth offers capabilities for remote detection, care, and treatment to help with supervision, surveillance, discovery, and prevention, as well as to mitigate the effects of health care indirectly related to COVID-19.

    iproc 2022;8(1):e41059

    doi:10.2196/41059

    Keywords

    telemedicine; COVID-19; systems design; digital health 

    Conflicts of Interest

    None declared.

    Edited by B Dinesen; This is a non–peer-reviewed article. submitted 13.07.22; accepted 17.08.22; published 19.08.22

    Copyright

    ©Cristian Castillo Olea Jr, Carlos Vera Hernandez Sr, Amellaly Mendias Alarcon, Roberto Conte Galvan Sr. Originally published in Iproceedings (https://www.iproc.org), 19.08.2022.

    This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in Iproceedings, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://www.iproc.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.