Scalable Telehealth Services to Combat Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

An ongoing pandemic, the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is threatening the nations of the world regardless of health infrastructure conditions. In the age of digital electronic information and telecommunication technology, scalable telehealth services are gaining immense importance by helping to maintain social distances while providing necessary healthcare services. This paper aims to review the various types of scalable telehealth services used to support patients infected by COVID-19 and other diseases during this pandemic. Recently published research papers collected from various sources such as Google Scholar, ResearchGate, PubMed, Scopus, and IEEE Xplore databases using the terms "Telehealth", "Coronavirus", "Scalable" and "COVID-19" are reviewed. The input data and relevant reports for the analysis and assessment of the various aspects of telehealth technology in the COVID-19 pandemic are taken from official websites. We described the available telehealth systems based on their communication media such as mobile networks, social media, and software based models throughout the review. A comparative analysis among the reviewed systems along with necessary challenges and possible future directions are also drawn for the proper selection of affordable technologies. The usage of scalable telehealth systems improves the quality of the healthcare system and also reduces the infection rate while keeping both patients and doctors safe during the pandemic.