EU-Funded Telemedicine Projects - Assessment of, and Lessons Learned From, in the Light of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic.

The SARS-CoV-2 health emergency has demonstrated the need for developing structured telemedicine systems to protect citizens from the spread of the virus. Thereby, their importance and the necessity to tailor their diffusion at large scale for providing services both at a distance and in time has been shown. For these reasons, the European Union advocates the digital transition of health systems for the next 5 years. The main aim of this work is to revisit the telemedicine research projects financed by European Community during the period 2000-2020 with particular respect to the results derived from their application. The analysis showed that some integration of tele-care and tele-health could be obtained with tele-monitoring systems and the implementation of Electronic Personal Record (EPR). Furthermore, telemedicine allows enhancing health care in critical environments, to protect health and life of the most vulnerable patients, and to encourage cross-border dialogue. The criteria of "from distance" and "timely delivered" are granted, but the effectiveness of the overall offered services highly depends on the availability and the quality of the input data. Unfortunately, this remains a relevant problem in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

EU-Funded Telemedicine Projects – Assessment of, and Lessons Learned From, in the Light of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

The SARS-CoV-2 health emergency has demonstrated the need for developing structured telemedicine systems to protect citizens from the spread of the virus. Thereby, their importance and the necessity to tailor their diffusion at large scale for providing services both at a distance and in time has been shown. For these reasons, the European Union advocates the digital transition of health systems for the next 5 years. The main aim of this work is to revisit the telemedicine research projects financed by European Community during the period 2000-2020 with particular respect to the results derived from their application. The analysis showed that some integration of tele-care and tele-health could be obtained with tele-monitoring systems and the implementation of Electronic Personal Record (EPR). Furthermore, telemedicine allows enhancing health care in critical environments, to protect health and life of the most vulnerable patients, and to encourage cross-border dialogue. The criteria of “from distance” and “timely delivered” are granted, but the effectiveness of the overall offered services highly depends on the availability and the quality of the input data. Unfortunately, this remains a relevant problem in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

Molecular tests for SARS-CoV-2: data from Liguria Region (Italy).

The current Covid-19 pandemic makes necessary to identify people affected by SARS-CoV-2. To do this, the most reliable method is the use of the molecular test that is the gold standard to detect positive peoples.Here, we provide a comprehensive review on the diagnostic processes through molecular tests for SARS-CoV-2 infection. First, we have obtained information about the testing technologies in the Liguria region's hospitals to find and describe the most common technologies used and to calculate the molecular test's average cost. Second, we have evaluated the sensitivity, the specificity, the safety with respect to the data reported on scientific literature (Real Word Data VS Registrative Studies) and the organizational aspects of the molecular tests.Clinical Relevance- This study aims to provide support to the decision makers on clinical, economic, organizational, social and ethical issues related to the use of molecular test for SARS-CoV-2.