Comparing acne follow-up: teledermatology versus outpatient dermatology visits
Hasan Khosravi, Sophia Zhang, Nalyn Siripong, Autumn Moorhead, Joseph C. English
Abstract
The application of teledermatology for evaluating acne patients has yielded comparable therapeutic outcomes with traditional face-to-face evaluation, but follow-up compliance between these modalities is not well-studied. Our objective is to compare the rate and duration of follow-up between acne patients initially evaluated by teledermatology versus in-person outpatient consultation. Electronic medical review of acne patients, 18-35 years-old seen via teledermatology and face-to-face evaluation at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center between 2010-2018 was performed. Teledermatology patients were less likely to follow-up in the first 90 days (13.0% versus 31.0%, P<0.001) compared to patients seen face-to-face with overall follow-up rates of 22% among both modalities. The median time to follow-up was 45.5 days (IQR: 13/57) in the teledermatology group compared to 64 days (IQR: 56/77) in the face-to-face group (P<0.001). Teledermatology patients were more likely to be treated with oral antibiotics (43.0% versus 28.5%) or oral spironolactone (18.5% versus 12.5%) compared to patients seen face-to-face (P<0.001). Teledermatology poses a promising solution to extend dermatologic care with earlier access to follow-up. Our data demonstrates a need to improve teledermatology follow-up education to improve follow-up care.