A Narrative Review of Telemedicine in Latin America during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic greatly impacted traditional health structures, posing new challenges in an unprecedented health crisis. Telemedicine services were implemented in countries with robust digital platforms to reduce hospital attendance while continuing to provide medical care. This study aims to determine how telemedicine services have been used as a tool to ensure the right to health in Latin America during the pandemic.

Materials and methods: We conducted a narrative review in which words such as telemedicine, COVID-19, Latin America, access, and right to health, were searched on scientific medical datasets such as PubMed and SciELO. Additionally, we reviewed legislation in the Latin American health domain regarding the administration and transmission of digital data.

Results and conclusions: Several countries have used telemedicine to reduce the saturation of healthcare systems and increase patient access. Issues such as broadband access for low-income populations and adequate legal regulations for transmitting and storing confidential data must be addressed to improve telemedicine use in Latin America.