*By Eduardo De Luca
Popularized during the pandemic period, Telemedicine services became a reality in Brazil, especially after the sanction of the law that regulates its practice in 2022. In this sense, today, both patients and health professionals are increasingly more familiar with virtual services. According to National Federation of Supplementary Health (Fenasaúde), in 2023, more than 30 million remote consultations were carried out in the country, which indicates an increase of around 172% compared to 11 million, from 2020 to the end of 2022.
In this sense, Telemedicine services provide a series of benefits not only in times of pandemic or outbreaks of contagious diseases, but also in cases of patients with chronic conditions, considering that remote consultations guarantee continuous monitoring and faster interventions. and personalized.
Furthermore, Telemedicine can provide greater agility in initial assessments, such as analyzes of atypical skin conditions, which can be verified and documented through photos.
Another advantage that further strengthens this type of care is the lack of doctors in some regions in Brazil. To give you an idea, according to data from the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM), although there are more than 575 thousand active doctors in Brazil, an average of 2.81 per thousand inhabitants, the North region stands out for having the lowest proportion of doctors (1.73), being below the national average. In this sense, Telemedicine services can also support the expansion of care in regions that lack health professionals.
The challenges of Telemedicine in Brazil
Despite the promising scenario, there are still concerns and challenges regarding Telemedicine services in Brazil. The first point is that many regions of Brazil, especially rural and remote areas, still have limited access to high-speed internet, which makes it difficult to carry out virtual consultations.
In this context, a study of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), with data collected from 2020 to 2022, points out that 13 million Brazilians did not have internet coverage in rural regions, with urban connectivity being one and a half times more comprehensive.
Another important point is that Telemedicine services require robust systems to ensure data protection, in order to guarantee the privacy and confidentiality of clinical information, as well as integration with electronic medical records and other health management tools.
Furthermore, the growing demand for Telemedicine services also requires greater focus on improving patient experiences. Therefore, it is essential that health professionals have access to evidence-based resources, to have access to reliable information and increasingly optimize consultations, offering accurate diagnoses.
In this sense, the tools clinical decision support (CDS) they can support doctors in their decision-making, conveying reliability and credibility to patients, helping in addition to face-to-face consultations, but also via Telemedicine.
*Eduardo De Luca, Market Strategy Manager for Latin America at Wolters Kluwer Health
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