Teledermatology: a Few Bulletpoints by the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD)
- The AAD released a teledermatology position statement a few years ago which was currently being revised and we’re going to see how we may adapt it given new situation with telemedicine.
- The existing statement divides Telemedicine in Dermatology into a “live interactive” and “store-and-forward teledermatology”… while really highlighting the importance of high quality teledermatology.
- Another point is that we need to make sure that patients always have the choice:
- Patients can be forced to use telemedicine or otherwise be excluded
- The AAD doesn’t want an insurer to require them to see telemedicine first.
- This freedom of choice also applied to the providers:
- Dermatologists shouldn’t be be required to see patients by telemedicine, if they would prefer to see patients in person.
- The bottom line is choice for both sides here.
- Patients can be forced to use telemedicine or otherwise be excluded
- It’s also important that we hold up high standards as far as quality for:
- proper history taking
- proper documentation
- high quality photos.
Jules Lipoff. Teledermatology in the US. 8th World Congress of Teledermatology, Skin Imaging and AI in Skin diseases – November 2020