Telehealth during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic: Rapid expansion of telehealth outpatient use during a pandemic is possible if the programme is previously established

Abstract

Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly impacted the health-care system both in Australia and internationally, and has rapidly transformed the delivery of health care in hospitals and the community. Implementation of social isolation and distancing measures to stop the spread of the disease and to reduce potential harm to patients has necessitated the use of alternate models of health-care delivery. Changes that would normally take months or years have occurred within days to weeks. Methods: We conducted analysis of outpatient clinic data during the period of the pandemic and compared this to previous telehealth use. We also present the results of cli..