Telemedicine and teledermatology: Past, present and future

Abstract

Telemedicine is an emerging field within medicine with potential to revolutionize the delivery of health care. It is defined as the use of telecommunication technologies to transfer medical information. Teledermatology is a category of telemedicine. Early experiments were already made at the beginning of the 20(th) century, the breakthrough happened in the nineties because of the rapid progress of telecommunication technology. The latest advance is mobile telemedicine which is characterized by the use of mobile devices such as mobile phone and PDA (personal digital assistant). Advantages of telemedicine are the possibility of remote patient-care as well as the easy and fast access to expert opinions and education. This can either happen through exchange of previously stored data/images (store-and-forward method) or in real time. Since our society is increasingly becoming interconnected via technical advances, it is essential that medicine also has an objective understanding of the topic.

Medical online consultation service regarding maxillofacial surgery

“…Number of enquiries (in %) n ¼ 204 Symptoms 29 (14.2) Emotionally burdened 13 (6.4) Common cold 9 (4.4) Fatigue/flu symptoms 6 (2.9) Aesthetically bothering particularly for patients with chronic diseases Wurm et al, 2008;Schulz et al, 2009). Since 1999 the medical online consultation service of the University Hospital in Zurich has been answering queries regarding common conditions and medical specialities.…”

Medical Online Consultation Service in CAM at the University Hospital Zurich

“…However, misconceptions are also possible in direct patient-doctor interaction [23]. There are several reports in literature [24,25,26] that telemedicine is a valuable tool to support conventional medicine and in particular managed care models. The growing interest of patients in CAM therapies and the increasing patient autonomy will require further strategies of integrative care approaches [27].…”

Tertiary Teledermatology: A Systematic Review

“…The field of teledermatology research is still young, with steady publication output only since 1998. 4 With the growing demand for specialist care within a growing and more demanding global population, tertiary teledermatology should become part of regular healthcare.…”

“…1 The most common form of the teledermatology process is digital communication between general practitioners and dermatologists. [2][3][4] This is referred to as secondary teledermatology. Another form of the teledermatology process is digital communication among dermatologists, referred to as tertiary or specialized teledermatology.…”