Citation: El-Sherif, D.M.; Abouzid,
M.; Elzarif, M.T.; Ahmed, A.A.;
Albakri, A.; Alshehri, M.M.
Telehealth and Artificial Intelligence
Insights into Healthcare during the
COVID-19 Pandemic. Healthcare 2022,
10, 385. https://doi.org/10.3390/
healthcare10020385
Academic Editors: Keun Ho Ryu and
Nipon Theera-Umpon
Received: 11 January 2022
Accepted: 15 February 2022
Published: 18 February 2022
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Review
Telehealth and Artificial Intelligence Insights into Healthcare
during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Dina M. El-Sherif
1,
* , Mohamed Abouzid
2,3
, Mohamed Tarek Elzarif
4
, Alhassan Ali Ahmed
3,5
,
Ashwag Albakri
6
and Mohammed M. Alshehri
7,8
1
National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries (NIOF), Cairo 11516, Egypt
2
Department of Physical Pharmacy and Pharmacokinetics, Poznan University of Medical Sciences,
60-781 Poznan, Poland; mmahmoud@ump.edu.pl
3
Doctoral School, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 60-781 Poznan, Poland;
alhassan.ahmed@student.ump.edu.pl
4
Independent Digital Health Researcher and Entrepreneur, CEO Doctor Live Company, Cairo 12655, Egypt;
muhammad.elzarif@gmail.com
5
Department of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences,
60-781 Poznan, Poland
6
Collage of Computer Science and Information Technology, Jazan University, Jizan 45142, Saudi Arabia;
aoalbakri@jazanu.edu.sa
7
Medical Research Center, Jazan University, Jizan 45142, Saudi Arabia; moalshehri@jazanu.edu.sa
8
Physical Therapy Department, Jazan University, Jizan 82412, Saudi Arabia
* Correspondence: dm.nagib@niof.sci.eg
Abstract:
Soon after the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic was proclaimed, digital health services
were widely adopted to respond to this public health emergency, including comprehensive monitoring
technologies, telehealth, creative diagnostic, and therapeutic decision-making methods. The World
Health Organization suggested that artificial intelligence might be a valuable way of dealing with
the crisis. Artificial intelligence is an essential technology of the fourth industrial revolution that
is a critical nonmedical intervention for overcoming the present global health crisis, developing
next-generation pandemic preparation, and regaining resilience. While artificial intelligence has
much potential, it raises fundamental privacy, transparency, and safety concerns. This study seeks to
address these issues and looks forward to an intelligent healthcare future based on best practices and
lessons learned by employing telehealth and artificial intelligence during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords: COVID-19; healthcare; digital health; pandemic; telemedicine; artificial intelligence;
telehealth
1. Introduction
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the environment, and
people’s health lifestyle globally [
1
,
2
]. Digital health offers a valuable opportunity to handle
epidemics such that real-time results continuously emerge. Recent cases of Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), influenza A virus subtype H1N1, and Ebola Virus Disease
have taught us many lessons about the usefulness of digital health in public health crises.
Those lessons can also be applied to improve our reaction to the coronavirus disease 2019
(COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-
CoV-2) through innovative and productive techniques [
3
–
5
]. In 1980, the Veterans Health
Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VisTA) was deployed for the first time;
this is considered the beginning of what is now referred to as digital medicine, leading to
the first generation of the Electronic Health Record (EHR). The successful implementation
of the computerized patient record system was another milestone in 2000. The VisTA user
interface allows providers to analyze and edit the EHR of patients, which was the beginning
of medical information technology [6].
Healthcare 2022, 10, 385. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10020385 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/healthcare
