The Impact of Telemedicine on Healthcare Delivery during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic: Opportunities, Innovations, Challenges, and Policy Implications
This narrative review evaluates the implementation purposes of telemedicine in medical service delivery in thecontext of the COVID-19 pandemic. Telemedicine covering all forms of e-Delivery of healthcare has undergonemassive changes in technology, comprising patient-specific interfaces and seamless integration with ElectronicHealth records. With telemedicine, healthcare professionals can telecommute and have virtual meetings withpatients, provide remote consultations, monitor patients' conditions and facilitate the diagnostic processes. TheCOVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of telemedicine, leading to a surge in users and highlighting itspotential to revolutionize healthcare delivery. However, challenges such as inequitable access, data protectionconcerns, and healthcare professional adaptation remains. In addition, this review has a policies segment,highlighting the need of comprehensive policies and government aids in order to maximize telemedicine benefitsand address its issues.Keywords: Telemedicine, Healthcare Technology, COVID-19 Impact, Technological Advancements,Therapeutic Workflow, Remote Patient Monitoring and Healthcare Policy