TECHNOLOGY: CREATING A DIGITAL FRONT DOOR FOR SEXUAL HEALTH PROVISION DURING COVID-19 THROUGH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A REMOTE CLINICAL IMAGES SERVICE IN A COMMUNITY CLINIC

ABSTRACT

During the COVID-19 pandemic sexual health services have adapted swiftly to ensure continued provision of essential services. To protect patients and staff, face-to-face appointments were replaced by remote telephone consultations where possible. We report our experience in a busy sexual health clinic of a novel, remote telemedicine service intended for the assessment of visible genital skin lesions. We carried out a retrospective study evaluating diagnoses and outcomes for patients assessed remotely between 03/2020 & 03/2021,01/2022 & 02/2022. Patients who reported genital lumps,where appropriate, were invited to send images for review. A total of 372 and 53 images were studied for 2020/2021 and 2022 review periods respectively. 289/372 (78%) & 47/ 53 (89%) images were of good quality, patients were able to be managed remotely (n=189, 65%) & (n=35, 74%) with a remote prescription and treatment plan for genital warts. A total of 91 patients required face-to-face review, however, only 75 patients attended in 2020/2021 review, which in 67 cases was due to poor-quality images and in 8 cases due to other service needs. See Tables1&2. While we have received a small number of patients feedback responses, the majority found the service convenient and would use it again. Our findings indicate that telemedicine has allowed us to remotely diagnose and safely manage many patients with genital dermatoses, thereby avoiding 289 and 47 faceto- face appointments for review periods respectively. Its advantages include convenience, accessibility, and patient comfort. Moving forward, telemedicine can be used as an adjunct to the existing sexual health services in the post COVID era. (Table Presented).