The Utilization and Impact of Live Interactive and Store-and-Forward Teledermatology in a Veterans Affairs Medical Center During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction: Teledermatology has emerged as a promising method of continuing dermatologic care during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, including in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Analysis of the utilization and impact of teledermatology within the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Health Care System (SFVAHCS) may elucidate the ways that teledermatology programs can continue to be optimized.Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of live interactive encounters, Veterans Affairs Video Connect (VVC), store-and-forward telehealth (SFT), and face-to-face (FTF) consultations, performed within the SFVAHCS from March 2020 to December 2020. To assess utilization, we analyzed numbers of encounters throughout 2020. To assess impact, we analyzed primary diagnoses for each encounter and rates of recommendations for medications and lesion biopsies. Additionally, we assessed diagnostic accuracy associated with each teledermatology type by measuring concordance between teledermatologists' clinical diagnoses and histopathological diagnoses.Results: Two thousand two hundred fifty FTF, 347 VVC, and 470 SFT encounters were conducted from March to December 2020. More female patients utilized VVC, and patients who utilized VVC were younger than SFT and FTF users (p < 0.01). SFT was utilized more by patients from rural areas (p < 0.01). Diagnoses addressed were significantly different between VVC and SFT. A majority of VVC encounters involved referrals for inflammatory conditions; primary diagnoses associated with SFT consultations were most frequently neoplasms. Comparison of VVC and SFT outcomes showed that more VVC visits resulted in a medication recommendation, while more SFT consultations resulted in a biopsy recommendation.Conclusions: Teledermatology contributed to meeting patient needs throughout 2020 and created an impact on clinical management. Patient characteristics, diagnoses, and type of impact associated with encounters varied between SFT and VVC. This analysis provides insight into teledermatology utilization within the VA system and can contribute to efforts to improve the quality of teledermatology care for veterans.