Applications of e-Health to Support Person-Centered Health Care at the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Background: Many e-health services were launched after countries relaxed their telehealth regulations to combat the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. e-Health technologies that support person-centered health care are crucial for the patient's needs. In this systematic review, we examined how e-health applications are used to support person-centered health care at the time of COVID-19. Methodology: Literature was systematically searched without language restriction and publication status between January 1 and May 25, 2020, to describe e-health's support on the person-centered health care to control the COVID-19 pandemic. PubMed, ScienceDirect, and CINAHL, MedRxiv, and Web of Science were used. Two researchers independently assessed the eligibility of each retrieved record. All included studies were subsequently rescreened by the researchers. The systematic review was conducted in accordance with preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses guidelines. Results: We identified 60 articles and selected 8 studies that met the inclusion criteria. Most of the studies used e-health technologies to facilitate clinical decision support and team care. Patient's engagement and access to health care from their homes were enhanced using telehealth and mobile health. Electronic health records were used to avail reliable data to health care providers and health authorities to make evidence-based decisions. Conclusion: Although there are limited studies to evaluate the effectiveness of e-health technologies for person-centered health care, the reviewed studies indicated e-health's potentials to improve the quality of health care and personalized health systems during COVID-19 pandemic. Further research should be done to better understand applications of e-health to improve the quality of health care and patients' outcomes and evaluate its cost-effectiveness.