Rapid Expansion of a Teledermatology Web Application for Digital Dermatology Assessment Necessitated by the COVID-19 Pandemic: Retrospective Evaluation

Shareen Muthiah; Fiona E Craig; Siobhan Sinclair; Grant Wylie; Donna Torley; Terence H Wong; Colin A Morton

doi:10.2196/36307

Rapid Expansion of a Teledermatology Web Application for Digital Dermatology Assessment Necessitated by the COVID-19 Pandemic: Retrospective Evaluation

JMIR Dermatol. 2023 Jul 26:6:e36307. doi: 10.2196/36307.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Stirling Community Hospital, Stirling, United Kingdom.
² Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow, United Kingdom.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 37632929
PMCID: PMC10413227
DOI: 10.2196/36307

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a change in the provision of outpatient care in dermatology.

Objective: A novel, asynchronous, digital consultation platform was codeveloped with 2 National Health Service dermatology teams to improve access and enhance choice in outpatient care.

Methods: The rollout of the platform was accelerated during the initial COVID-19 lockdown, and its wider use across 2 Scottish health boards was retrospectively evaluated. Integrated with the hospital booking system and electronic patient record, the platform provides an alternative to face-to-face consultations, using information and images submitted by the patients.

Results: In total, 297 new patient consultations and 108 return patient consultations were assessed, and 80% (324/405) of the images submitted were of satisfactory quality. The consultations were, on average, 3 minutes shorter than equivalent face-to-face interactions, and a total of 5758 km of patient travel was avoided. Outcomes included web-based reviews (66/405, 16.3%), face-to-face reviews (190/405, 46.9%), biopsies (46/405, 11.4%), discharge (89/405, 22%), and other treatments or investigations (14/405, 3.5%). High levels of patient satisfaction (92/112, 82.1%) were reported.

Conclusions: Digital dermatology assessments are now included in the choices for consultation types that are available to patients, helping to augment service capacity during pandemic recovery.

Keywords: asynchronous; consultation; dermatologist; dermatology; digital assessment; digital consultation; digital health; eHealth; online platform; outpatient; return patient; skin; teledermatology; telehealth; telemedicine.

©Shareen Muthiah, Fiona E Craig, Siobhan Sinclair, Grant Wylie, Donna Torley, Terence H Wong, Colin A Morton. Originally published in JMIR Dermatology (http://derma.jmir.org), 26.07.2023.