Abstract Body

1.Background and purpose:
From the beginning of the global pandemic in Serbia, Primary care center “ Vozdovac „ has established a special COVID19 department. During the period of ten months, 37285 were admitted for examination. Given the high number of SARS-Cov2 positive patients in the country, hospitals capacities were limited and many patients were assigned home treatment through primary care physicians. In response of facing large number of patients seeking medical help, we introduced telemedical communications.

2. Method: retrospective case series study

3. Results: This study includes 8344 patients who tested positive for SARS Cov2 . Goal of the study was to demonstrate how early identification of symptoms for home-treated patients is important to evaluate their condition and the need for hospitalization. After initial examination and testing, patients were sent home for isolation and stayed in communication with their doctors, sharing information about their health and symptoms. We used modified MEWS score to evaluate patient current status, and schedule an additional testing and appointments. Points assignment included systolic BP, heart and respiratory rate, temperature and AVPU score. Assessment also included interpretation of blood tests and oxygen saturation levels. 77.1% of patient had score below 4 with no or mild risk of ICU admission, and they were contacted every 2-3 days, 1621 patients had score from 5-6, that demanded caution and daily monitoring. Score 7 and above had 288 patients who were immediately hospitalized.

4. Conclusion: Continuous outpatient monitoring using telemedicine and additional follow-ups played an important role in identification of early signs of deterioration and necessity for hospital treatment.