Use of Telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) through the Department of Evidence and Intelligence for Health Action invites Member States and PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centers to participate in the Call for Good Practices in the Use of Telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal is to collect successful experiences in planning, structuring, implementing, and maintaining telehealth services during the pandemic in the Region of the Americas.

Background

In 2005, the World Health Organization (WHO) defined telehealth services as the “cost-effective and secure use of Information and Communication Technologies in support of health and health-related fields, including health care services, health surveillance, health literature, and health education, knowledge and research”.
In March 2020, COVID-19 was declared as a pandemic by WHO. The lockdown measures accelerated the adoption of digital technologies in the provision of health care. The pandemic has brought an unprecedented explosion of interest in digital health technologies to support health care.

The experiences, initiatives, and lessons learned surrounding the use of telehealth to support patients in an emergency setting, such as the COVID-19, can provide a wealth of knowledge to advancing the digital transformation of health within the Region of the Americas. Moreover, this is a crucial opportunity to identify, document, and disseminate expertise as Good Practices (GPs) learned from the field.

The present Call for GPs aims to contribute to knowledge sharing among Members States and different actors in the Region of the Americas in the Use of Telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic to contribute to knowledge sharing among Member States and different actors in the Region of the Americas.

Most evidence about digital health comes from High-Income Countries that may pose difficulties for replicability and/or adaptability in Low-Middle Income Countries, opening the need to diversify the information on digital health usage to be more representative of the totality of the Region of the Americas. The systematization of good practices on the use of telehealth can help bridge the gap between subregions in the Americas in developing and implementing digital health practices by promoting the sharing, learning, and application of good practices.

Published Good Practices

The dissemination of the approved Good Practices is envisaged for June 2024.

This Call is CLOSED
for submissions

Participants:

Institutions from PAHO/WHO Member States

PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centers

Languages:

English

Spanish

Submission deadline:
31 March 2024 (Extended)