SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to characterize teleconsultations in neurology executed by Regula+Brasil project in Recife, a capital city in northeastern Brazil. METHODS: A descriptive study carried out by four private hospitals, in a partnership with the Ministry of Health in Brazil. Teleconsultation was performed preferably in the video modality. Conditions eligible for teleconsultation were headache, epilepsy, and cerebrovascular disorders. Period of analysis was May to September 2020. RESULTS: A total of 243 teleconsultations were analyzed, of which 76.95% was a first appointment. In 48.97% of cases, the teleconsultation represented the first opportunity for the patient to be consulted with the specialist. Among cases of first appointment, 20.16% were further referred to a face-to-face consultation and 21.81% could be redirected to primary health care. Headache disorders were the most predominant clinical conditions. CONCLUSIONS: The implementation and development of telemedicine by Regula+Brasil during the COVID-19 pandemic represented an opportunity to assess the value of having teleconsultations added along the line of care from primary care to a medical specialty, promoting the coordination of care across different levels of complexity of care in the health system and improving access to specialized care.

RESUMO Antecedentes: A telemedicina se desenvolve a partir da tecnologia que permite a transferência de conhecimento e o compartilhamento de informações, possibilitando a prestação de serviços de saúde à distância. Objetivo: Avaliar o número de publicações sobre teleneurologia nas últimas duas décadas no PubMed e as evidências disponíveis sobre o uso desta tecnologia em diferentes quadros clínicos neurológicos. Métodos: Avaliação quantitativa das publicações relacionadas à telemedicina e neurologia nas últimas duas décadas. O levantamento dos artigos ocorreu a partir de busca no PubMed com os descritores (“Telemedicine”[Mesh]) AND “Neurology” [Mesh]). Foi realizada uma revisão dos artigos relacionados ao tema para avaliar os processos de inovação utilizados e aplicações em diversas condições clínicas envolvendo a teleneurologia. Resultados: A busca realizada no PubMed em 14 de março de 2022 resultou em 229 publicações envolvendo o tema telemedicina e neurologia entre 1999 e 2022. Desde 2000, houve um aumento de publicações relacionadas a esse tema, com um pico de 71 artigos publicados em 2020, ano em que a Organização Mundial da Saúde definiu o status de pandemia da COVID-19. Conclusão: Nas últimas duas décadas, a teleneurologia vem se desenvolvendo com a expansão dos recursos tecnológicos e a pandemia de COVID-19 intensificou esse processo. São estudadas diferentes modalidades de telemedicina em diversas áreas da neurologia, incluindo teleconsulta e teleconsultoria, telereabilitação, telemonitorização e teleducação. Os avanços alcançados pela teleneurologia nesse período estimularam inovações tecnológicas e processos de saúde que criaram oportunidades para melhorar a assistência prestada em um mecanismo de constante evolução.

ABSTRACT Background: Telemedicine develops from technology that offers opportunities for knowledge transfer and information sharing and allows the provision of health services at a distance. Objective: To evaluate the number of publications on teleneurology in the last two decades in PubMed and the available evidence on the use of this technology in neurological clinical conditions. Methods: A quantitative assessment of publications related to telemedicine and neurology in the last two decades. A search was performed on the PubMed database for the descriptors ("Telemedicine"[Mesh]) AND "Neurology"[Mesh]). A review of the articles retrieved on the topic was carried out to evaluate the innovation processes used and applications in various clinical conditions involving teleneurology. Results: The search performed on March 14th 2022 resulted in 229 publications involving the topic of telemedicine and neurology between 1999 and 2022. Since 2000, there has been an increase in publications related to this topic, with a peak of 71 articles published in 2020, the year in which the World Health Organization defined the COVID-19 pandemic status. Conclusion: In the last two decades, teleneurology has been developing through the expansion of technological resources and the COVID-19 pandemic intensified this process. Different modalities of teleneurology are studied in several neurology subfields and include teleconsultation (between healthcare professionals or between healthcare professionals and patients), telerehabilitation, telemonitoring and tele-education. The advances achieved by teleneurology in this period encouraged technological innovations and health processes that developed opportunities to improve the care provided in a mechanism of constant evolution.