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Correspondence
COVID-19 pandemic: an opportunity to assess the utility of telemedicine in patients with rheumatic diseases
  1. Clementina López-Medina1,2,3,4,
  2. Alejandro Escudero1,2,3,
  3. Eduardo Collantes-Estevez1,2,3
  1. 1 Rheumatology Department, Reina Sofía University Hospital, Córdoba, Spain
  2. 2 GC05 group, Maimónides Institute for Biomedical Research of Córdoba (IMIBIC), Córdoba, Spain
  3. 3 Medicine Department, University of Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain
  4. 4 Rheumatology Department, Cochin Hospital, Paris, France
  1. Correspondence to Dr Clementina López-Medina, Rheumatology, Reina Sofía University Hospital, Córdoba 14004, Spain; clementinalopezmedina{at}gmail.com

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/annrheumdis-2020-218008

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    We read with interest the letter published by Bozzalla Cassione et al,1 in which authors evaluated 165 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus using telemedicine as the follow-up method. As in Italy, the high infectivity and the risk of collapse of intensive care units led to the Spanish government to announce on 14 March the strict confinement and prohibition of social mobility to ensure a decrease in COVID-19 contagion rates. As a consequence, physical consultations of rheumatology outpatients have been replaced by phone consultations to prevent the risk of contagion.2 One of the most important concerns that limits the care quality of rheumatic patients in Spain is the pressure of healthcare, since the number of patients is excessive and human resources are limited. This epidemic outbreak has proven to be a great opportunity to test phone consultations in assisting rheumatic patients. The rheumatology department of Reina Sofía University Hospital in Córdoba (Spain) conducted a survey among rheumatic patients that was disseminated via patient …

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors CL-M designed the study and analysed the data. All authors equally contributed to the interpretation of results and manuscript preparation.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, conduct, reporting or dissemination plans of this research.

    • Patient consent for publication Not required.

    • Ethics approval All patients agreed to participate in this survey.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.

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