The data comes from a survey conducted in January with members of Saúde Digital Brasil, who together, since the emergency regulation, have carried out more than 16.4 million consultations. For 2022, the expectation is 30 million consultations.
Although post-pandemic regulations remain uncertain, the numbers regarding the use of telemedicine continue to grow. Data collected by Saúde Digital Brasil with its associates, which represent 80 to 90% of the private telemedicine market, in January, show an increase of 113% in the number from 2020 to 2021. There were more than 10.2 million consultations carried out via telemedicine.
In 2022, more than 1.4 million consultations were carried out in January alone, representing almost 14% of last year's total. More than 30 million consultations are expected to take place by December. The monthly average of contacts between healthcare professionals and patients using technology has also shown a considerable increase. In 2020, it was 400 thousand consultations per month, in 2021 this average had already doubled, and last January it was more than three times higher than the volume carried out at the beginning of the pandemic – reaching the mark of 1.4 million consultations per month.
According to Caio Soares, president of Saúde Digital Brasil, there is no doubt about the impacts provided, the adherence of all those involved and the effectiveness of telemedicine. These aspects make it, without a doubt, irrevocable. “What we have experienced to date is a journey never experienced by any other sector in terms of the volume of care provided. Telemedicine has contributed substantially to making us get through this war more smoothly. We will have a post-pandemic period in which it will also be very necessary and very present. After all, society has learned to live with this new model”, he emphasizes.
Data collected from Saúde Digital Brasil members also reveal that 80% of patients using telemedicine are concentrated in the age group between 16 and 65 years old, with videoconferencing being the preferred technology for contact (97%). Regarding the types of care provided via telemedicine, 57% are individual emergency care consultations; 21% are first specialty consultations; 17% are follow-up consultations with specialty follow-up; and 11% are follow-up consultations with specialty follow-up.
However, Soares emphasizes that, in order for access to healthcare not to be impacted and to continue to be guaranteed and expanded, the regulatory process that is being processed in the National Congress must be accelerated. “We currently have a temporary law and once the pandemic is over, we will enter a very complex situation regarding information security and ensuring good practices in remote care, in the same way that we have in the face-to-face model. What we need is regulation to sustain not only growth, but to guarantee it, and this is a very serious obstacle”, he concludes.
About Digital Health Brazil
The Brazilian Association of Telemedicine and Digital Health Companies, known as Saúde Digital Brasil (SDB), is a non-profit organization created to bring together entities that operate in the telemedicine service provision chain and that develop activities related to digital health.
Founded in 2020, the entity's main goal is to defend the cause of healthcare through telemedicine and telehealth in Brazil and to create regulations that guarantee its continuity. In addition, the SBD works to contribute to the improvement of the healthcare model, increase scientific and technological development, innovation and qualified and sustainable development of the healthcare sector.
