Letter:
We read with interest the article “Telemedicine in Neurosurgery During the COVID-19 Outbreak: Where We Are 1 Year Later” by Mouchtouris et al., which unequivocally shows that telemedicine in neurosurgery has a future.1 We agree with their findings, and we would like to add that telemedicine provides patients with greater access to specialized neurosurgical care, eliminates geographical barriers and travel difficulties, reduces the loss of work time owing to hospital visits, saves patient costs, and allows for patients to be identified as potential candidates for operative or conservative treatment.2 In addition, the variety of reliable mobile devices, the internet, and free software applications (e.g., Skype, Messenger, Viber, WhatsApp) not only provide an opportunity for quality neurosurgical consultations, but also promote medical education programs through distance learning and exchange of medical knowledge, including telesimulations of virtual robotic neurosurgical procedures.3 , 4
In conclusion, we would like to point out that to ensure the widespread use of telemedicine in neurosurgery after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, it is necessary for countries to legally regulate this type of service by adopting clear legislation to define the scope of services, regulate the confidentiality of the transmission and storage of personal data, define the possible liability for omissions, and clarify processing of payment for the work performed.
Footnotes
Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare that the article content was composed in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
References
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