Telehealth has become a proven and valuable way to deliver cardiovascular disease (CVD) care, but ongoing limitations, including access to technology, hinder widespread adoption, the American Heart Association (AHA) concludes in a new scientific statement.
"Telehealth utilization grew tremendously during the COVID-19 pandemic. This timely AHA scientific statement highlights strengths and limitations for telehealth, and it identifies areas for future research and innovation that will help to optimize the incorporation of telehealth into the future of clinical practice," writing group chair Edwin A. Takahashi, MD, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota, told theheart.org | Medscape Cardiology.
The statement, "An Overview of Telehealth in the Management of Cardiovascular Disease," was published online November 14 in Circulation.
Convenient, Patient-Centered Care
Telehealth "collapses the barriers of time and distance," making it ideal for providing high-value, patient-centered care, the writing group notes.
The benefits of telehealth are especially important for adults with CVD, which disproportionally affects racial and ethnic minority groups of lower socioeconomic status, who often face barriers to care, they point out.
Clinical experience has shown that telehealth can facilitate the management of many CVDs, including arrhythmia detection, heart failure, hypertension, coronary artery disease, and myocardial infarction.
"Telehealth can be utilized in many different ways.
