"In late 2019 and early 2020, the province of Wuhan, China began to see patients with what was eventually known as COVID-19. While the pandemic has now spread across the globe, this group in China has implemented some effective ways of managing patients via telemedicine tools. These tools proved quite useful and can be seen as one effective example to follow," says Charles R. Doarn, MBA, Editor-in-Chief of Telemedicine and e-Health.
The multidisciplinary quarantine team was comprised of experts in medicine, rehabilitation, psychology, and nursing. Patients described their symptoms and conditions online using a quarantine observation form at least two times per day. The quarantine team created a WeChat group to ease communication. Nursing experts provided guidance on quarantine and disinfection and oversaw patients' diets and sleep schedule. Rehabilitation experts developed a feasible rehabilitation plan, and psychotherapists encouraged patients to stay optimistic. Importantly, the quarantined patients were not alone, as they had regular contact with the quarantine team, aimed at increasing their confidence in recovery and enhancing self-management capabilities.
Sufang Huang, Yaru Xiao, Li Yan, Juan Deng, Mei He, Jun Lu, Shun Ke.
Implications for Online Management: Two Cases with COVID-19.
Telemedicine and e-Health, 2020. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2020.0066.
