Electronic Clinic in COVID-19: Benefit to Reduce Mortality in the Community

Haitham Noaman; Hazim Ghazzay; Maher Ali; Khalid Maseer; Ahmed Faeq; Hameed Ibrahim; Abdulwahab AL-Faluji; Faisal Khalaf AL-Assaf

doi:doi:10.11648/j.frontiers.20220203.11

Electronic Clinic in COVID-19: Benefit to Reduce Mortality in the Community

Haitham Noaman, Hazim Ghazzay, Maher Ali, Khalid Maseer, Ahmed Faeq, Hameed Ibrahim, Abdulwahab AL-Faluji, Faisal Khalaf AL-Assaf

Published in Frontiers (Volume 2, Issue 3)

Received: 20 July 2022 Accepted: 4 August 2022 Published: 15 August 2022

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Abstract

Objectives: In the COVID-19 era, the huge numbers of patients that overcame the capacities of the Iraqi hospitals and the private health system sector lefta significant number of patients unable to access health services. This led to an increase in the mortality rate. Aim: To use telemedicine (electronic clinics) to treat patients outside of the traditional health system and thus reduce the mortality rate. Patients and methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was done by a group of specialists and consultants in internal medicine and community medicine over 4 months (15\3\2020 to 30\7\2020). All specialists and consultant’s set-up electronic clinics using their smartphones and the WhatsApp application; patients call the doctor requesting help and advice and explaining symptoms. The doctors can then give direction, chat with patients, make investigations and radiology requests, order medications, and continue to follow up with the patients. Results: Most of the cases were mild to moderate in severity, with few severe and life-threatening cases that refuse hospital admission despite thorough, repeated advice. The vast majority (88%)of the mild to moderate cases fully recovered, and most of the severe cases fully recovered. Conclusion: The electronic clinics significantly reduced the mortality rate. With electronic connection, the infectivity rate among the medical health system staff can be limited. We propose that electronic clinics can be useful support (but not substitute) to the traditional health system.

Published in	Frontiers (Volume 2, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.frontiers.20220203.11
Page(s)	113-115
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

COVID-19, Electronic Clinic, Low Morbidity and Mortality

References

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[3]	Cabinet discusses measures to mitigate impact of COVID-19, curfew. 08 Apr 2020. https://gds.gov.iq/.
[4]	COVID-19: Iraq’s Higher Committee for Health and National Safety announces emergency grant to families impacted by curfew. 12 Apr 2020. https://gds.gov.iq/.
[5]	Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Situation Report – 176 Data as received by WHO from national authorities by 10:00 CEST, 14 July 2020. https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports.
[6]	Kenneth McIntosh, Martin S Hirsch, and Allyson Bloom. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): Clinical features. Up to date; 15\7\2020. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-clinical-features.
[7]	Salman Rawaf, Harumi Quezada Yamamoto, and David Rawaf. Unlocking towns and cities: COVID-19 exit strategy. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal. World Health Organization (WHO). May, 2020. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo)
[8]	Ibrahim Abdulai Sawaneh, Albert Kamara, and Joshua Hamid Koroma. A computerized patient’s database management system. International Journal of Computer Science and Information Technology Research. 2018; 6: 6-10.
[9]	Youn-Jung Son, Yaelim Lee, and Hyeon-Ju Lee. Effectiveness of mobile phone-based interventions for improving health outcomes in patients with chronic heart failure: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Environmental Health and Public Research. 2010; 17 (5): 1749.
[10]	Laura Vearrier, Kyle Rosenberger, and Valerie Weber. Use of personal devices in healthcare: Guidelines from a roundtable discussion. Journal of Mobile Technology in Medicine. 2018; 7 (2): 27-34.
[11]	Wiechmann W, Kwan D, Bokarius A, et al. There’s an App for that? Highlighting the difficulty in finding clinically relevant smartphone applications. West J Emerg Med. 2016; 17: 2: 191–4.
[12]	Mahir Ali Jasim, Hazim Ghazzay, Haitham Noaman, Mothana Khalil, Samir Johna. The outcome of telemedicine services for COVID-19 patients in “Al-Anbar” province west of Iraq. JEMAC. October 2021; 2021: 3: 2-4.
[13]	Statista. Physicians’ usage of smartphones for professional purposes in the U.S. from 2012 to 2015. 2015. [cited 23 January 2017].
[14]	Jay Portnoy, MDa, Morgan Waller: Telemedicine in the era of COVID-19. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2020; 8 (5): 14891491.
[15]	Iraq Coronavirus Deaths \| August 2020 Data. https://tradingeconomics.com/iraq/coronavirus-deaths
[16]	Jian-Min Jin, Peng Bai, Wei He, Fei Wu, Xiao-Fang Liu, De-Min Han, Shi Liu, and Jin-Kui Yang. Gender differences in patients with COVID-19: Focus on severity and mortality. Front. Public Health2020; 8: 152.

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APA Style

Haitham Noaman, Hazim Ghazzay, Maher Ali, Khalid Maseer, Ahmed Faeq, et al. (2022). Electronic Clinic in COVID-19: Benefit to Reduce Mortality in the Community. Frontiers, 2(3), 113-115. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.frontiers.20220203.11

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ACS Style

Haitham Noaman; Hazim Ghazzay; Maher Ali; Khalid Maseer; Ahmed Faeq, et al. Electronic Clinic in COVID-19: Benefit to Reduce Mortality in the Community. Frontiers. 2022, 2(3), 113-115. doi: 10.11648/j.frontiers.20220203.11

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AMA Style

Haitham Noaman, Hazim Ghazzay, Maher Ali, Khalid Maseer, Ahmed Faeq, et al. Electronic Clinic in COVID-19: Benefit to Reduce Mortality in the Community. Frontiers. 2022;2(3):113-115. doi: 10.11648/j.frontiers.20220203.11

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@article{10.11648/j.frontiers.20220203.11,
  author = {Haitham Noaman and Hazim Ghazzay and Maher Ali and Khalid Maseer and Ahmed Faeq and Hameed Ibrahim and Abdulwahab AL-Faluji and Faisal Khalaf AL-Assaf},
  title = {Electronic Clinic in COVID-19: Benefit to Reduce Mortality in the Community},
  journal = {Frontiers},
  volume = {2},
  number = {3},
  pages = {113-115},
  doi = {10.11648/j.frontiers.20220203.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.frontiers.20220203.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.frontiers.20220203.11},
  abstract = {Objectives: In the COVID-19 era, the huge numbers of patients that overcame the capacities of the Iraqi hospitals and the private health system sector lefta significant number of patients unable to access health services. This led to an increase in the mortality rate. Aim: To use telemedicine (electronic clinics) to treat patients outside of the traditional health system and thus reduce the mortality rate. Patients and methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was done by a group of specialists and consultants in internal medicine and community medicine over 4 months (15\3\2020 to 30\7\2020). All specialists and consultant’s set-up electronic clinics using their smartphones and the WhatsApp application; patients call the doctor requesting help and advice and explaining symptoms. The doctors can then give direction, chat with patients, make investigations and radiology requests, order medications, and continue to follow up with the patients. Results: Most of the cases were mild to moderate in severity, with few severe and life-threatening cases that refuse hospital admission despite thorough, repeated advice. The vast majority (88%)of the mild to moderate cases fully recovered, and most of the severe cases fully recovered. Conclusion: The electronic clinics significantly reduced the mortality rate. With electronic connection, the infectivity rate among the medical health system staff can be limited. We propose that electronic clinics can be useful support (but not substitute) to the traditional health system.},
 year = {2022}
}

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TY - JOUR
T1 - Electronic Clinic in COVID-19: Benefit to Reduce Mortality in the Community
AU - Haitham Noaman
AU - Hazim Ghazzay
AU - Maher Ali
AU - Khalid Maseer
AU - Ahmed Faeq
AU - Hameed Ibrahim
AU - Abdulwahab AL-Faluji
AU - Faisal Khalaf AL-Assaf
Y1 - 2022/08/15
PY - 2022
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.frontiers.20220203.11
DO - 10.11648/j.frontiers.20220203.11
T2 - Frontiers
JF - Frontiers
JO - Frontiers
SP - 113
EP - 115
PB - Science Publishing Group
SN - 2994-7197
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.frontiers.20220203.11
AB - Objectives: In the COVID-19 era, the huge numbers of patients that overcame the capacities of the Iraqi hospitals and the private health system sector lefta significant number of patients unable to access health services. This led to an increase in the mortality rate. Aim: To use telemedicine (electronic clinics) to treat patients outside of the traditional health system and thus reduce the mortality rate. Patients and methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was done by a group of specialists and consultants in internal medicine and community medicine over 4 months (15\3\2020 to 30\7\2020). All specialists and consultant’s set-up electronic clinics using their smartphones and the WhatsApp application; patients call the doctor requesting help and advice and explaining symptoms. The doctors can then give direction, chat with patients, make investigations and radiology requests, order medications, and continue to follow up with the patients. Results: Most of the cases were mild to moderate in severity, with few severe and life-threatening cases that refuse hospital admission despite thorough, repeated advice. The vast majority (88%)of the mild to moderate cases fully recovered, and most of the severe cases fully recovered. Conclusion: The electronic clinics significantly reduced the mortality rate. With electronic connection, the infectivity rate among the medical health system staff can be limited. We propose that electronic clinics can be useful support (but not substitute) to the traditional health system.
VL - 2
IS - 3
ER -

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Author Information

Haitham Noaman

Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Anbar, Ramadi, Iraq
Hazim Ghazzay

Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Anbar, Ramadi, Iraq
Maher Ali

Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Anbar, Ramadi, Iraq
Khalid Maseer

Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Anbar, Ramadi, Iraq
Ahmed Faeq

Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Anbar, Ramadi, Iraq
Hameed Ibrahim

Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Anbar, Ramadi, Iraq
Abdulwahab AL-Faluji

Anbar Health Organization, Falluja Teaching Hospital, Falluja, Iraq
Faisal Khalaf AL-Assaf

Anbar Health Organization, Falluja Teaching Hospital, Falluja, Iraq

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APA Style

Haitham Noaman, Hazim Ghazzay, Maher Ali, Khalid Maseer, Ahmed Faeq, et al. (2022). Electronic Clinic in COVID-19: Benefit to Reduce Mortality in the Community. Frontiers, 2(3), 113-115. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.frontiers.20220203.11

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ACS Style

Haitham Noaman; Hazim Ghazzay; Maher Ali; Khalid Maseer; Ahmed Faeq, et al. Electronic Clinic in COVID-19: Benefit to Reduce Mortality in the Community. Frontiers. 2022, 2(3), 113-115. doi: 10.11648/j.frontiers.20220203.11

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AMA Style

Haitham Noaman, Hazim Ghazzay, Maher Ali, Khalid Maseer, Ahmed Faeq, et al. Electronic Clinic in COVID-19: Benefit to Reduce Mortality in the Community. Frontiers. 2022;2(3):113-115. doi: 10.11648/j.frontiers.20220203.11

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@article{10.11648/j.frontiers.20220203.11,
  author = {Haitham Noaman and Hazim Ghazzay and Maher Ali and Khalid Maseer and Ahmed Faeq and Hameed Ibrahim and Abdulwahab AL-Faluji and Faisal Khalaf AL-Assaf},
  title = {Electronic Clinic in COVID-19: Benefit to Reduce Mortality in the Community},
  journal = {Frontiers},
  volume = {2},
  number = {3},
  pages = {113-115},
  doi = {10.11648/j.frontiers.20220203.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.frontiers.20220203.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.frontiers.20220203.11},
  abstract = {Objectives: In the COVID-19 era, the huge numbers of patients that overcame the capacities of the Iraqi hospitals and the private health system sector lefta significant number of patients unable to access health services. This led to an increase in the mortality rate. Aim: To use telemedicine (electronic clinics) to treat patients outside of the traditional health system and thus reduce the mortality rate. Patients and methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was done by a group of specialists and consultants in internal medicine and community medicine over 4 months (15\3\2020 to 30\7\2020). All specialists and consultant’s set-up electronic clinics using their smartphones and the WhatsApp application; patients call the doctor requesting help and advice and explaining symptoms. The doctors can then give direction, chat with patients, make investigations and radiology requests, order medications, and continue to follow up with the patients. Results: Most of the cases were mild to moderate in severity, with few severe and life-threatening cases that refuse hospital admission despite thorough, repeated advice. The vast majority (88%)of the mild to moderate cases fully recovered, and most of the severe cases fully recovered. Conclusion: The electronic clinics significantly reduced the mortality rate. With electronic connection, the infectivity rate among the medical health system staff can be limited. We propose that electronic clinics can be useful support (but not substitute) to the traditional health system.},
 year = {2022}
}

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