The Digital Clinical Center of Hospital da Luz, and its investment in videoconsultations , was born in 2016, long before the COVID-19 pandemic, but this later produced a large accelerating factor. “In the first month after the pandemic, our videoconsultations increased about 3000%. One year on, the number of specialties available for videoconsultation went from 14 to 40 and the physicians involved, from 50 to over 600”, explains Daniel Ferreira , the clinical director of Hospital da Luz Digital Clinical Center , in an interview to site Inside Now, a platform of Newsfarma with the goal to disseminate the new reality of hospital centres vis-à-vis COVID-19. In this interview, the cardiologist reminds how the Digital Clinical Center was born , having already at the time “a very different concept from telemedicine” (created to overcome the lack of specialists in hospitals), and what are its advantages . “We wanted it to be a facilitator for our clients with stabilized chronical disease and that we already knew: to be able to offer them the possibility not to come to the hospital, for some consultations, alternating remote and in-person consultations. Namely, after exams, the following consultation could be made remotely, to analyse the results”, he reminds. Presently, all hospitals of Hospital da Luz network have videoconsultations (at Hospital da Luz Lisboa alone, there are 15), that are used by over 600 physicians, while about a thousand physicians already received training to perform this kind of consultations. A consultation (almost) identical to in-person consultation “Right from the start, our concept was that a videoconsultation is exactly the same as an in-person consultation, mainly with two different aspects: it is not possible to conduct a physical examination – although much can be detected through the camera, such as, for instance, how the person reacts, if he is anxious or depressed – and the patient is not in the same physical space, which is convenient in this present times”, states Daniel Ferreira. Moreover, he adds, the videoconsultation meets all the requirements of an in-person consultation , in terms of confidentiality, privacy and safety. The pandemic not only accelerated the adherence of physicians and patients (for fear to go to the hospital), but it promoted the evolution of the concept: “We gradually opened new possibilities. In the beginning, videoconsultations were only available for those patients we already knew, but not anymore. For instance, if someone comes to the emergency service and undertakes analyses, he can afterwards have a videoconsultation to discuss the results with the physician”. And there is also LUZ 24 , a telephone line of clinical screening, following strict protocols, that refers clients to the most adequate option: emergency service, videoconsultation or programmed consultation, for instance. Daniel Ferreira also demonstrates how videoconsultations can be decisive to control chronic diseases, the more so in a time of COVID-19 pandemic, which represents “an accrued risk”. “We are finding that, all over the world, patients are getting to the hospital too late. But a stabilized chronic patient can, at any time and for any reason, become instable. Namely, in coronary disease: by simply not having easy access to the doctor, not renewing prescriptions and being without medication for a few days, he can seriously decompensate, incurring the risk of infarction. Therefore, there is also here this important aspect of videoconsultation: the patient does not fear anymore to come to us, whenever necessary”. Interview of Daniel Ferreira to Inside Now
