Accompanying patients on how to use the new telemedicine tools

The pandemic accelerated a trend in healthcare: the growing use of telemedicine tools to monitor patients and avoid trips to health centres. But the irruption of new technologies brings with it the risk that some people will not be able to take advantage of them and will be left behind.

This project, led by the Citizen Care Service with the Outpatient Area of the Centre, has involved the students of the Intermediate Level Training Cycle in Auxiliary Nursing Care and the Higher Level Training Cycle in Health Documentation of the Bonanova Institute of Health Vocational Training, attached to the Hospital del Mar. The initial pilot test demonstrated the success of the initiative. 88% of the participants said they would have a video call visit again and 77% explained that the simulation had been highly satisfactory.

The digital literacy project includes the training of students who are put in contact with patients likely to benefit from such a service. Once selected, they are contacted and offered a video call simulation to dispel their doubts about this tool. After the simulation, it is determined whether or not the user is able to take advantage of the video call from their reference physician. If so, it is carried out and its operation is monitored. This system is used in follow-up visits and not the first ones as those are always face-to-face.

This initiative “seeks to empower and train patients in the use of new health care technologies, encouraging citizen participation and involvement and promoting the culture of telematic care,” explains Marta Hurtado, head of Citizen Care at the Hospital del Mar. The benefits are a reduction in the number of journeys and the length of stay of patients and relatives at the health centre, increasing their autonomy and helping to reconcile family and work for caregivers as well as guaranteeing their follow-up care,” says Dr. Érico Sitjas, head of the Outpatient Area and Assistant to the Care and Medicine Department at the Hospital del Mar.