Telemedicine in HIV health care during the COVID-19 pandemic: An implementation research study in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
HIV Med
; 25(8): 927-934, 2024 08.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38657752
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
From October 2020 to October 2022, we conducted an implementation study to offer telemedicine (TM) across four HIV units of general public hospitals in Buenos Aires. The intervention used TM to provide a continuum of care to patients with HIV. METHODS ANDSETTING:
We used the RE-AIM framework to evaluate the strategy. The study started during a COVID-19 outbreak with strict lockdown policies and continued until return to normal practices. Implementation facilitation served as the core implementation strategy.RESULTS:
We reached 4118 patients (58% of eligible individuals), and the main perceived benefits were the ability to avoid exposure to infectious diseases and reduced travel time and cost. After a median of 515 days of follow-up, 95.7% of participants with HIV were receiving antiretroviral therapy, and 87.8% were virally suppressed, with a median CD4+ count of 648 cells/µL. In total, 36.6% reported clinical events, and 20.4% presented with COVID-19 infection. The proportion of physicians adopting TM was 69.37%. After enrolment, 2406 of 5640 (43%) follow-up visits were conducted via TM. By the end of the study, 26.29% of appointments offered in the four centres were through TM, whereas 73.71% were in-person appointments.CONCLUSION:
It was feasible to implement TM in the four centres in the public health sector in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was acceptable for both patients and healthcare workers, and effectively reached a large proportion of the population served in these clinics. Both healthcare workers and patients consider it a model of care that will continue to be offered in the future.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Infecções por HIV
/
Telemedicina
/
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
Limite:
Adult
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Female
/
Humans
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Male
/
Middle aged
País/Região como assunto:
America do sul
/
Argentina
Idioma:
En
Revista:
HIV Med
Assunto da revista:
SINDROME DA IMUNODEFICIENCIA ADQUIRIDA (AIDS)
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Argentina
País de publicação:
Reino Unido