Delivering Personalized Care at a Distance: How Telemedicine Can Foster Getting to Know the Patient as a Person

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Informatics
• Digital Health
• Patient-Centered Care

Background:

• Precision medicine utilizes advanced technologies (genomics, proteomics) for detailed patient characterization.
• The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption and acceptance of telemedicine.
• Telemedicine has demonstrated high patient and clinician satisfaction, with excellent ratings for communication and patient-centeredness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the advantages of telemedicine, particularly video consultations, in delivering personalized patient care.
• To propose strategies and skills for effectively implementing personalized telemedicine.
• To leverage insights from patient-centered communication and home visit literature.

Main Methods:

• Literature review focusing on patient-centered communication and home visit best practices.
• Analysis of telemedicine's role in enhancing patient characterization and understanding life circumstances.
• Exploration of video-based telemedicine platforms for personalized care delivery.

Main Results:

• Telemedicine facilitates a deeper understanding of patients' individual life circumstances compared to traditional visits.
• High patient and clinician satisfaction reported with telemedicine, emphasizing quality communication and patient-centeredness.
• Video telemedicine offers significant advantages in the process of knowing the patient as a whole person.

Conclusions:

• Telemedicine, especially via video, is a valuable tool for advancing personalized care and precision medicine.
• Effective implementation requires specific strategies and skills in patient-centered communication.
• Telemedicine complements traditional visits by offering unique benefits for holistic patient assessment.