Ask Dr. Massengale
Forced change…silver linings
There is no denying that COVID19 has had a major negative impact on our daily lives. Stress levels are high in our community. Health and financial concerns are significant. We have seen it manifested in skin disorders that are triggered by stress such as acne, rosacea, psoriasis, shingles, and eczema just to name a few. As a practice, Atlas went from seeing patients in the office as usual to 100% teledermatology in about 3 days. Teledermatology has been around for years but wasn’t used often mostly because insurers wouldn’t cover it. Because of the governor and insurance commissioner, we are now able to treat patients remotely using smartphone technology. At first, I was a little skeptical but now I see the real power of this tool. We have received some amazingly detailed pictures of both rashes and lesions. Through pictures and video chat, we can make diagnoses and treatment plans and determine who might need to be seen in person. We can even mail prescriptions to patients overnight. Obviously for some conditions, an in-person office visit will be required such as to biopsy a suspicious lesion or to freeze a wart but I think teledermatology is here to stay.
April Product of the Month
