Identifying Trends in Patient Characteristics and Visit Details During the Transition to Teledermatology: Experience at a Single Tertiary Referral Center

Abstract

Teledermatology is cost effective, accurate, and has the potential to increase access to care for rural and minority populations.Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of telehealth services was mainly limited by reimbursement restrictions. However, during the pandemic, emergency legislation mandating telehealth coverage swept across the nation, resulting in an 8,336% increase in telehealth claims from April 2019 to April 2020. This steep increase provides an opportunity to evaluate how the transition to telehealth has impacted the practice of dermatology. The purpose of this study was to compare trends in teledermatology and in-person visits to begin to explore how we can optimize teledermatology moving forward.