Telemedicine in an Apurímac implementing unit from the perspective of healthcare providers: A response to primary care

• Sonia Utani Damian

  Universidad Tecnológica de los Andes, Abancay, Apurímac, Perú.

• Jesus Ramon Arteaga Pinazo

  Universidad Tecnológica de los Andes, Abancay, Apurímac, Perú.

• Christian David Corrales Otazú

  Universidad Continental, Perú.

• Giuliana del Socorro Raggio Ramírez

  Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Perú.

Health policies and proposals on preventive and community-based health care (PCHC) seem to be stagnating somewhat in Latin America. Telemedicine and teleworking, experienced in the recent pandemic context, however, seem to open up possibilities for strategies to enhance PCHC, especially in rural contexts, which are road- and geographically complex. This article reviews the problems facing the advancement of PCHC and contrasts them with the evidence, at the perceptual level, of telemedicine in an executing unit in Apurímac, a rural, indigenous and mestizo territory, with rugged mountainous relief in Peru. The qualitative approach was privileged on thematic patterns of conversations focused on operators and some patients. The results indicate that health teleworkers see unprecedented potential in telemedicine, above all, to re-empower and reflect on the possibilities of PCHC.

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