Ethical, Legal, Organisational and Social Issues of Teleneurology: A Scoping Review

Alezandra Torres-Castaño (), Analía Abt-Sacks, Ana Toledo-Chávarri, José Carlos Suarez-Herrera, Janet Delgado-Rodríguez, Beatriz León-Salas, Yadira González-Hernández, Montserrat Carmona-Rodríguez and Pedro Serrano-Aguilar
Additional contact information
Alezandra Torres-Castaño: Canary Islands Health Research Institute Foundation (FIISC), 38320 Tenerife, Spain
Analía Abt-Sacks: Canary Islands Health Research Institute Foundation (FIISC), 38320 Tenerife, Spain
Ana Toledo-Chávarri: Canary Islands Health Research Institute Foundation (FIISC), 38320 Tenerife, Spain
José Carlos Suarez-Herrera: Evaluation Unit of the Canary Islands Health Service (SESCS), 38109 Tenerife, Spain
Janet Delgado-Rodríguez: Canary Islands Health Research Institute Foundation (FIISC), 38320 Tenerife, Spain
Beatriz León-Salas: Canary Islands Health Research Institute Foundation (FIISC), 38320 Tenerife, Spain
Yadira González-Hernández: Canary Islands Health Research Institute Foundation (FIISC), 38320 Tenerife, Spain
Montserrat Carmona-Rodríguez: Network for Research on Chronicity, Primary Care, and Health Promotion (RICAPPS), 28029 Madrid, Spain
Pedro Serrano-Aguilar: Canary Islands Health Research Institute Foundation (FIISC), 38320 Tenerife, Spain

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 4, 1-19

Abstract: Background: Neurological disorders are the leading cause of disability and the second leading cause of death worldwide. Teleneurology (TN) allows neurology to be applied when the doctor and patient are not present in the same place, and sometimes not at the same time. In February 2021, the Spanish Ministry of Health requested a health technology assessment report on the implementation of TN as a complement to face-to-face neurological care. Methods: A scoping review was conducted to answer the question on the ethical, legal, social, organisational, patient (ELSI) and environmental impact of TN. The assessment of these aspects was carried out by adapting the EUnetHTA Core Model 3.0 framework, the criteria established by the Spanish Network of Health Technology Assessment Agencies and the analysis criteria of the European Validate (VALues In Doing Assessments of healthcare TEchnologies) project. Key stakeholders were invited to discuss their concerns about TN in an online meeting. Subsequently, the following electronic databases were consulted from 2016 to 10 June 2021: MEDLINE and EMBASE. Results: 79 studies met the inclusion criteria. This scoping review includes 37 studies related to acceptability and equity, 15 studies developed during COVID and 1 study on environmental aspects. Overall, the reported results reaffirm the necessary complementarity of TN with the usual face-to-face care. Conclusions: This need for complementarity relates to factors such as acceptability, feasibility, risk of dehumanisation and aspects related to privacy and the confidentiality of sensitive data.

Keywords: teleneurology; health technology assessment; ethical; legal; organizational; social; equity; accessibility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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