Will teledermatology be the silver lining during and after COVID-19?

ABSTRACT

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has limited traditional consultation and minimized health care access. Teledermatology (TD) has come to the rescue in this situation by extending consultation for nonessential conditions to the comfort of patient's homes. This limits the risk of exposure of both doctors and patients to the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). And while there is a reported increase in teleconsultations during the ongoing pandemic, there are some demerits that avert the shift to virtualized health care. The authors conducted an online survey to further understand the hesitancy, limitations, merits, and the demographic of dermatologists who were conducive to TD and these data were analyzed and presented in this article. While TD might never replace physical consultation, it definitely serves an adjunctive role in the post-COVID era, provided adequate regulatory measures are in place.