Abstract:
BACKGROUND : The COVID-19 pandemic forces sport and
exercise medicine (SEM) physicians to think differently
about the clinical care of patients. Many rapidly
implement eHealth and telemedicine solutions specific
to SEM without guidance on how best to provide these
services.
AIM : The aim of this paper is to present some guiding
principles on how to plan for and perform an SEM
consultation remotely (teleSEM) based on a narrative
review of the literature. A secondary aim is to develop a
generic teleSEM injury template.
RESULTS : eHealth and telemedicine are essential
solutions to effective remote patient care, also in SEM.
This paper provides guidance for wise planning and
delivery of teleSEM. It is crucial for SEM physicians,
technology providers and organisations to codesign
teleSEM services, ideally involving athletes, coaches
and other clinicians involved in the clinical care of
athletes, and to gradually implement these services with
appropriate support and education.
CONCLUSION : teleSEM provides solutions for remote
athlete clinical care during and after the COVID-19
pandemic. We define two new terms—eSEM and
teleSEM and discuss guiding principles on how to plan
for and perform SEM consultations remotely (telecomm).
We provide an example of a generic teleSEM injury assessment guide.
