JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine has quickly extended over many countries over as clinical frameworks have needed to shift to giving consideration through virtual modalities to guarantee the security of patients and staff. Teledermatology, specifically, is well-suited for telemedicine, with documents supporting its viability, even handed quality and precision, and cost-adequacy in correlation to in-person visits. Teledermatology holds extraordinary potential in proceeding to expand admittance to patients and guaranteeing coherence of care, especially for those from rural and underserved regions.

Objective:

To study the practice of teledermatology pre-, per and post-COVID pandemic

Methods:

Literature search using the following keywords was done – online consultations, teledermatology, post-covid. Reports from integrated healthcare companies, e.g. Practo were also considered.

Results:

According to the reports, Indians consulted doctors 10 times more during the second wave (April-May 2021) than in pre-Covid times (January-February 2020). India witnessed a record 30x spike in online doctor consultations for Covid-related symptoms during this time, as against 6x during the previous peak. More than 50 per cent of all online consultations were for Pulmonologists and General Physicians for queries related to coronavirus and seasonal flu. Other key specialities that were consulted during the period included Gynaecology (10 per cent), Dermatology (8 per cent) and Pediatrics (5 per cent). The demand for general physicians and pulmonologists was at an all-time high, according to the data. Cutaneous manifestations were varied, which included urticaria, varicella-like vesicles, transient livedoid eruptions, livedoid vasculopathy, purpuric eruptions, lichenoid photodermatitis, erythroderma, photo-contact dermatitis, and generalized pustular figurate erythema.

Conclusions:

Continued advocacy efforts and future studies highlighting teledermatology’s impact, particularly on minorities, underserved patient populations, and resource-poor settings are critical for long-term legislative changes to occur and to provide coverage to our most vulnerable patients. This presentation underscores the state of teledermatology prior to the pandemic, the legal statutory changes that permitted teledermatology to rapidly expand during the pandemic, and the significance of continued work after the pandemic. In short, the interruption of SARS-CoV-2 into everyday life worldwide has clarified that our method of practising medicine needs re-examining.