Teledermatology before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. / Teledermatología en tiempos de pandemia: El antes, el durante y el después.

The use and acceptance of teledermatology increased more in the last 2 months of the recent lockdown owing to coronavirus disease 2019 than in the preceding 20 years. This sudden popularity -even among the greatest skeptics- was driven by the need to offer solutions to patients in both public and private settings who suddenly found themselves unable to access in-person dermatological care. Even departments already offering an asynchronous, store-and-forward teledermatology service were obliged to create new systems to support direct interaction between specialists and patients (the direct-to-consumer model). This article suggests some practical ways to implement TD safely and to expedite and optimize teleconsultations; these ideas are not just applicable to a pandemic situation.

Teledermatology before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic

The use and acceptance of teledermatology increased more in the last 2 months of the recent lockdown owing to coronavirus disease 2019 than in the preceding 20 years. This sudden popularity –even among the greatest skeptics– was driven by the need to offer solutions to patients in both public and private settings who suddenly found themselves unable to access in-person dermatological care. Even departments already offering an asynchronous, store-and-forward teledermatology service were obliged to create new systems to support direct interaction between specialists and patients (the direct-to-consumer model). This article suggests some practical ways to implement TD safely and to expedite and optimize teleconsultations;these ideas are not just applicable to a pandemic situation Resumen La teledermatología ha avanzado en aceptación y uso en los últimos 2 meses de confinamiento por SARS-CoV-2 más que en los últimos 20 años. Su repentina popularidad –aun entre los más escépticos– ha sido el resultado de buscar una respuesta a las necesidades de los pacientes, que se han encontrado bruscamente sin atención dermatológica presencial tanto en lo privado como en lo público. Incluso aquellos servicios que incluían la modalidad asíncrona tuvieron que generar sistemas que permitieran la atención directa (direct-to-consumer) entre el especialista y el paciente. El siguiente artículo propone algunas maneras prácticas de implementación segura para agilizar y optimizar las consultas dermatológicas, aplicables no solamente a tiempos de pandemia.