The COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico has changed the way of health care is provided. To prevent the spread of the disease and effectively manage the crisis, health services have to use virtual communication tools to manage the health of their patients.
Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico has changed the way of healthcare is provided. To prevent the spread of the disease and effectively manage the crisis, health services have to use virtual communication tools to manage the health of their patients. Federal health agencies have facilitated this transition by amending the regulatory framework and payment rules to support the implementation of telehealth, but much remains to be done for its effective implementation. Above all, we need to focus on assessing patients’ needs to design and adequately execute the telehealth programs.
In order to know which telehealth services will be most effective in a population, we must complete studies focused on patients’ readiness, capabilities and needs. However, so far there is no complete tool that collects and evaluates these aspects in order to integrate patients into telehealth programs. With this in mind, Impactivo, LLC, conducted an extensive literature review of telehealth readiness tools and created the Impactivo™ Virtual Health Readiness Assessment for Patients for the Puerto Rican population by adapting the content of various tools and following best practices implemented in telehealth programs nationwide.
Our tool has multiple objectives:
- Collect data on the population’s readiness, capabilities and needs to benefit from a telehealth program,
- Guide health service providers on how to use personalized communication strategies in the most efficient way in order to provide continuity of care to their patients,
- Facilitate the implementation of telehealth programs to support patients, especially those at high risk, during the COVID-19 emergency and
- Evaluate patients’ resources to stay healthy at home.
The tool is designed to support health service providers with individualized information from each patient in order to develop care strategies aligned to their patient’s needs.
The tool is designed to support health service providers with individualized information from each patient in order to develop care strategies. The COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto
Rico has changed the way of health care is provided. To prevent the spread of the disease and effectively manage the crisis, health services have to use virtual communication tools to manage the health of their patients. Evaluating Telehealth as an Alternative to Support Patients in Times of Covid-19 in Puerto Rico aligned to their patient’s needs. The information collected also serves the purpose of supporting the effective implementation of telehealth programs in order to increase access to alternatives to address patients’ health conditions even with the limitations imposed by the COVID-19 emergency in Puerto Rico, develop workflows that support providers amidst new regulations and maximize the financial sustainability of medical practices and clinics.