IPROC iproc Iproceedings 2369-6893 JMIR Publications Toronto, Canada v7i1e35400 27759104 10.2196/35400 Abstract Abstract Evaluation of Patient-Initiated Direct Care Mobile Phone–Based Teledermatology During The COVID-19 Pandemic Derrick Thomas Kaur Jasleen MBBS, MD 1
Government Medical College and Hospital Sector 32 Chandigarh, 160031 India 91 172 260 1023 jasleenksandhu21@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0446-457X Sharma Priyanka MBBS, MD 1 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8461-8307 Thami G P MBBS, MD 1 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4821-529X Sethi Maninder MBBS 1 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3360-7912 Kakar Shruti MBBS, MD 1 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0337-6946 Government Medical College and Hospital Chandigarh India Corresponding Author: Jasleen Kaur jasleenksandhu21@gmail.com Jan-Dec 2021 10 12 2021 7 1 e35400 2 12 2021 3 12 2021 ©Jasleen Kaur, Priyanka Sharma, G P Thami, Maninder Sethi, Shruti Kakar. Originally published in Iproceedings (https://www.iproc.org), 10.12.2021. 2021

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 Background

With advances in telecommunication, especially smartphones, teledermatology services offered by specialists are now being directly requested by the patients themselves. This model is known as patient-initiated, direct care teledermatology. It has been pushed to the forefront due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 Objective

The objectives of this study were to determine patients’ satisfaction and dermatologists’ confidence when a diagnosis was made via direct care mobile phone–based teledermatology.

 Methods

Patients availing direct care teledermatology services during the COVID-19 pandemic at a tertiary care center were subjected to a questionnaire within 5 days of the teleconsultation to assess patient satisfaction and opinions regarding using this model during and beyond the current COVID-19 pandemic. The dermatologists rated their confidence in making the clinical diagnosis on a scale from 1-10 for every case.

 Results

Of 437 participants, 419 (95.9%) were satisfied with this mode of teledermatology. An overwhelming majority (n=428, 97.9%) felt safe consulting the dermatologist via teleconsultation and not having to visit the hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, 269 (61.6%) patients agreed that they would be happy to use a teledermatology service beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. The dermatologists’ confidence score in making an accurate diagnosis ranged from 3 to 10, with a mean of 9.20 (SD 1.12).

 Conclusions

The high levels of patient satisfaction and dermatologists’ confidence scores indicate that direct care mobile phone–based teledermatology may be a useful tool in providing dermatological services in appropriate settings and its use should continue to be explored beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

 Conflicts of Interest

None declared.

 direct care teledermatology teledermatology hybrid teledermatology patient satisfaction physician confidence COVID-19