Instituto de Cirugía Urológica Avanzada (ICUA), Madrid, Spain.
Department of Urology and Population Health, New York University and Manhattan Veterans Affairs, New York, NY, USA.
Eur Urol. 2020 Dec;78(6):812-819. doi: 10.1016/j.eururo.2020.06.031. Epub 2020 Jul 10.
Telemedicine provides remote clinical support using technological tools. It may facilitate health care delivery while reducing unnecessary visits to the clinic. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has caused an abrupt change in our daily urological practice, converting many of us to be reliant on telehealth.
To provide practical recommendations for effective use of technological tools in telemedicine.
A Medline-based and gray literature search was conducted through April 2020. We selected the most relevant articles related to "telemedicine" and "smart working" that could provide important information.
Telemedicine refers to the use of electronic information and telecommunications tools to provide remote clinical health care support. Smart working is a model of work that uses new or existing technologies to improve performance. Telemedicine is becoming a useful invaluable tool during and even beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. It is time for us to formalize the place of telemedicine in routine urological practice, and it is our responsibility to adapt and learn about all the tools and possible strategies for their optimal implementation during the pandemic to ensure that the quality of care received by patients and the outcomes of patients and their families are of the highest standard.
Telemedicine facilitates specialized urological clinical support at a distance, solves problems of limitations in mobility, reduces unnecessary visits to clinics, and is useful for reducing the risk of viral transmission in the current COVID-19 outbreak. Furthermore, both personal and societal considerations may favor continued use of telemedicine, even beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
Telemedicine in urology offers specialized remote clinical support to patients, similar to face-to-face visits. It is very useful for reducing unnecessary visits to the clinic, as well as reducing the risk of contagion in the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
远程医疗使用技术工具提供远程临床支持。它可以促进医疗服务的提供，同时减少不必要的诊所就诊。2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）的爆发使我们的日常泌尿科实践发生了突然变化，使我们许多人依赖远程医疗。
为远程医疗中有效使用技术工具提供实用建议。
通过 2020 年 4 月进行了基于 Medline 的灰色文献检索。我们选择了与“远程医疗”和“智能工作”最相关的文章，这些文章可以提供重要信息。
远程医疗是指使用电子信息和电信工具提供远程临床医疗支持。智能工作是一种使用新技术或现有技术来提高绩效的工作模式。远程医疗在 COVID-19 大流行期间甚至之后成为一种非常有用的无价工具。现在是我们使远程医疗在常规泌尿科实践中规范化的时候了，我们有责任适应并了解所有工具以及在大流行期间优化其实施的可能策略，以确保患者获得的护理质量以及患者及其家人的治疗效果达到最高标准。
远程医疗可在远程为泌尿科患者提供专门的临床支持，解决行动不便的问题，减少不必要的诊所就诊，并有助于减少当前 COVID-19 爆发期间的病毒传播风险。此外，个人和社会因素都可能倾向于继续使用远程医疗，即使在 COVID-19 大流行之后也是如此。
泌尿科的远程医疗为患者提供了与面对面就诊类似的专门远程临床支持。它对于减少不必要的诊所就诊非常有用，同时也有助于降低当前 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行期间的传染风险。
