Table 2 Summary of included telehealth articles (n = 32).
Study | Hospital | City | Rural/Urban | Date | Study design | Sample size | Department | Technology/platform | Target disease | Service | Infrastructure | Clinical outcome | Implementation outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
He43 | Wuhan Living Room Fangcang Shelter Hospital | Wuhan | Urban | February 2020- March 10, 2020 | Observational | 1700 patients; 800 healthcare workers | — | HIS | COVID-19 | Triage and making appointments | Internet connection | Infection decreased 69.6% | Utilization: Almost 800 doctors, nurses, and lab staff have used |
Guo45 | Wuhan Children’s hospital | Wuhan | Urban | January to October, 2020 | Retrospective study | 267 outpatient infants | Department of Ophthalmology | Retinopathy of prematurity | Triage and making appointment | Internet, smartphone | — | Utilization: 67/86 screening appointments from telemedicine platform. | |
Fu31 | Beijing Cancer Hospital | Beijing | Urban | February to April and June to July 2020 | Retrospective study | 3718 patients | 16 departments at Beijing Cancer Hospital | HIS | Cancer | Supporting clinical trials | -HIS | — | Effectiveness: 572 trials; protocol compliance rate of 85.24%; 0 infection rate and error rate. Utilization: 176 clinical research associates;1318 participants in 228 trials |
Lian55 | Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital | Guangzhou | Urban | December 22, 2019 - April 1 to June 30, 2020 | Observational | 96,642 patients | — | — | Consultation; Screening; Monitoring; Knowledge dissemination | Internet, smartphone | — | Utilization: 96,642 users | |
Wei48 | Fangzhuang community health service center | Beijing | Rural | January 23, 2020 - January 29, 2020 | Quasi- experimental study | 12338 patients and 400 in evaluation | — | An intelligent voice call system | COVID-19 | Knowledge dissemination | Call SMS Cellphone | — | Effectiveness: Patients’ knowledge score increased. Utilization: 98,487 voice calls connected, 141,201 messages sent, read rate of 97.8%; Satisfaction:90.8% |
Lu36 | Multi-center | Multiple | — | January 23, 2020 - April 30, 2020 | Observational study | 16 patients | Department of Neurosurgery | A remote programming system | Chronic intractable pain | Clinical care | Internet, Computer, Sensor | Improvement was achieved in 12 of 13 (92.3%) cases | Utilization:34 sessions with 16 patients; satisfaction: 11 of the 16 (68.8%) patients satisfied |
Chen86 | Multiple hospitals | Multiple | Rural and Urban | February 2020 to 23 February 2020 | Descriptive, cross-sectional study | 2,599 patients; Over 800 specialists in 347 hospitals | Department of Obstetrics | Mobile application | Obstetric care | Consultation; Monitoring; Drug delivery | Internet, smartphone | — | Utilization: participants used the service for the first time; Satisfaction: 94.63% of the respondents |
Zhai30 | The Children’s Hospital of Fudan University | Shanghai | Urban | February 8 to March 31, 2020 | Cross-sectional study | 266 experts from 25 pediatric specialties | Outpatient and emergency departments | Pediatric disease | Pediatric medical services | Internet, mobile phone | Multiple | The response rate for online consultations was 100%. Utilization: Online visits accounted for 14.7% of all visits. 266 experts from 25 pediatric specialties completed 12,318 effective consultations | |
Liu72 | Fujian Provincial Maternity and Child Health Hospital | Fuzhou | Urban | January 2020 to June 2020 | quasi-experimental trial | 125 mothers with preschool children with autism | — | Autism spectrum disorder | Monitor; Consultation | Internet, mobile phone | Anxiety, Depression, Parenting Stress, Hope | Utilization: 40.0% logged their progress in home training each week and 61.5% logged their progress more than 80% of the time for all 20 weeks.; satisfaction: 90.4% | |
Zhang87 | Fujian Provincial Maternity and Child Health Hospital | Fuzhou | Urban | December 2019 to May 2020 | Retrospective study | 190 infants and their parents | Cardiac surgery department | Congenital heart disease | Consultation | Internet, mobile phone | Infants’ physical condition; parents’ depression and anxiety | Utilization: all participants | |
Zhang92 | Institutions from the STEP | Multiple | Both | October 21, 2019 - March 21, 2020 | Longitudinal cohort study | 7394 patients | — | A smartphone-based app, WeChat | Hypertension | Home blood pressure measurement | Internet, smartphone/sensor | Systolic blood pressure | Utilization: Wuhan patients more likely to check their BP via the app |
Xu84 | Tongji Hospital of Tongji Medical College | Wuhan | Urban | January 6 - January 31, 2020 | Retrospective study | 188 individuals | — | COVID-19 | Monitor | Internet, smartphone | Multiple | Utilization: all participants | |
Li95 | Peking Union Medical College Hospital | Beijing | Urban | February 1 to April 30, 2020 | Observational study | 82 preterm infants | Department of Pediatrics | Telephone and WeChat | Multiple | Follow-up service after discharge | Internet, Smartphone | Prognosis of preterm infants; anxiety level of families | Satisfaction: 96.8% satisfied with online follow-up and 95.2% of parents thought that online follow-up had answered all their questions. |
Nan88 | Beijing Tiantan Hospital | Beijing | Urban | August 2019 to March 2020 | Observational study | 243 patients | Department of Cardiology and Macrovascular Disease | Tiantanzhixin app | ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) | Consultation | Internet, smartphone | Multiple | Effectiveness: reduced pre- and post-hospital delay times in patients with STEMI |
Liu33 | Henan Provincial People’s Hospital | Zhengzhou | Urban | January 24 to February 17, 2020 | Retrospective Cohort Study | 4589 patients | Multiple | Consultation; Drug delivery | Internet, smartphone | — | Utilization: all participants; Satisfaction: 98.1% of survey respondents | ||
Li34 | University of Hong Kong- Shenzhen Hospital | Shenzhen | Urban | February 19 to March 16, 2020 | Observational study | 114 patients | Department of Surgery | Vascular disease | Consultation | Internet, Smartphone | — | Effectiveness: Better medical advice; Utilization: all participants; Satisfaction: all participants | |
Li89 | Beijing Pharmacists Association | Beijing, Tianjin | Urban | February 28 to April 27, 2020 | Observational study | 39 individuals | Multiple | Multiple | Online free pharmaceutical consultations | Internet, Smartphone | — | Utilization: 39 counseling cases; Effectiveness: All consultations completed within 4 h; the completion rate 100%; Satisfaction: 97.4% | |
Li93 | Multiple | Jiangsu, Wuhan, Huangshi | NA | 26 April 2020 to 9 December 2020 | Parallel group randomized controlled trial | 119 patients | — | Remote management system | COVID-19 | Clinical care | Internet, smartphone | Multiple | Utilization: all participants; Satisfaction: all participants |
Li28 | West China Hospital | Chengdu | Both | 1 February to 1 April 2020 | Observational study | 6662 individuals | Multiple | Huayitong platform | General health | Triage and making appointments; Clinical care; consultation | Internet, smartphone | — | Utilization: 10557 online consultations; only 8.1% (447 of 5517) of physicians used |
Ma52 | 9 sub-regional hotline organizations | North Chinese region | / | January to April 2020 | Observational study | 3,206 calls | — | Hotlines | Psychological assistance | Clinical care | Cellphones | — | Utilization: number of calls received at the regional level hotline (n = 3,206) was 0.021% of the population of the region. |
Zhou38 | Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University | Guang Zhou | Urban | October 2019 to March 2020 | Observational study | 3,473 cases | Mobile application | General health | Consultation | Mobile application, internet connection | — | Utilization: Increased utilization during COVID | |
Zhang94 | 40 hospitals | / | / | January 2019 to March 2020 | Descriptive, observational study | 196 patients, 909 telemedicine sessions | — | Remote management system | Movement disorders | Clinical care | Computer, camera, wi-fi, internet connection | — | Utilization: 909 telemedicine sessions; Satisfaction: 89% sessions |
Chen27 | Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Huzhou First People’s Hospital | Beijing and Huzhou | Urban | October 2019 to July 2020 | Prospective study | 6 patients | — | Remote management system | Diabetic retinopathy | Clinical care; Consultation | 5 G network, computer, sensor | Experience of visual acuity | System performance: data upload and download speed, network latency |
Li90 | Shanghai Children’s Hospital | Shanghai | Urban | January 2020 to September 2021 | Observational study | — | — | HIS; WeChat | General | Consultation; Drug delivery | HIS; Internet, smartphone/sensor | — | Utilization: 30,000 inquiries to clinical pharmacists |
Lee49 | Nanjing | Urban | February 9 to March 16th 2020 | Descriptive, observational study | 2,088 users | — | Mobile application | — | Monitor | Internet, Bluetooth, smartphone/sensor | — | Utilization: 2,088 users | |
Lin40 | Ruijin Hospital | Beijing | Urban | Jan to June 2020 | Case study | 4 patients | — | Remote management system | Psychiatric disorders | Clinical Care; Consultation | Wifi, Bluetooth, computer | OCD symptoms, (BDI) and anxiety (BAI) | — |
Ding91 | People’s Hospital of Baoan Shenzhen | Shenzhen | Urban | March 2 to April 20, 2020 | Descriptive, observational study | 1,380 prescriptions | — | Mobile application | General health | Consultation; Drug delivery | Internet, computer, smartphone/camera | — | Utilization: 1380 patients |
Mu51 | Peking University People’s Hospital | Beijing | Urban | Jan 21 to Apr 4, 2020 | Descriptive, observational study | 698 patients | — | Mobile application | Dermatology | Consultation | Internet, computer, smartphone/camera | — | Utilization: 698 patients used the system |
Shao85 | Taizhou Public Health Medical Center | Taizhou | Urban | January 23 2020 to March 15 2020 | Descriptive | — | Multiple | WeChat, Mobile application, Hotline | COVID-19 | Consultation; Knowledge dissemination | Internet, computer, smartphone/camera | — | Utilization: 84,255 consultations through the system; 15,510 follow-ups |
Wang29 | Gansu Provincial Hospital | Gansu | — | January 21 to February 29 2020 | Survey, observational study | 1,043 remote consultations | Multiple | Mobile application | General health | Consultation | Internet, computer, smartphone/camera | — | Utilization (patients): 1,043 consultations; Efficiency: 76.03% cases less than 2 h; Satisfaction 91.8% for providers, 68.42% patients |
Han26 | Multiple centers | — | — | January 2020 | Survey, observational study | 64 patients | — | Mobile application | Chronic pain | Clinical care | Internet, Bluetooth, sensor | — | Utilization: 81.3% patients used; Satisfaction: 96.7%; Perceived clinical improvement: 96.7%; System failure: 4.8% of patients |
Zhang35 | Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital | Zhejiang | Urban | February 3rd 2020 to February 9th 2020 | Observational study | 32 patients | Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine | Remote management system | COVID-19 | Monitor | Internet connection, sensor | — | Efficiency: less time |
