What the Pandemic Left Us: Regulatory Advances for Telemedicine and Telehealth in Argentina

Abstract

This report describes the regulatory frameworks adopted during and since the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 onward in Argentina, as well as the impact of these disciplines and how they relate to the expansion of telemedicine and telehealth in the region’s health sector. Among its many side effects, the COVID-19 pandemic left several positive outcomes. This article talks about one of the main positive effects in the post-pandemic period: the adoption of telemedicine and telehealth – two related disciplines already present in several Latin American countries but which, in the past 2 years, came to be a solution for delivering medical care to patients. Factors such as social-distancing measures, the lack of knowledge about the virus at the beginning of the pandemic that led to strict protective measures being taken in hospitals and doctors’ offices, restricting face-to-face care of patients to a bare minimum, and the rapid response of governments, healthcare institutions, payers, and professionals, provided the conditions that telemedicine and telehealth had needed for many years to flourish and occupy the predominant place they currently have in the global health ecosystem. All the benefits of remote patient care became apparent at a time in world history that marked a turning point in advanc-ing information and communication technologies for health. The report looks at the regulatory frameworks adopted during or since Argentina’s COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 onward.