COVID-19: A Catalyst for Innovative Hybrid Teledermatology Workflows to Increase Access and Improve Patient Care at a Large Group Practice

In response to COVID-19 restrictions, a hybrid photo- and video-based electronic health record workflow, known as SAVe (store-and-video evaluation), was developed to transition a large multispecialty group from a completely office-based dermatology practice to one that can support virtual care. This retrospective descriptive study, conducted from 3/16/2020 to 8/31/2020, analyzed 74,411 dermatology cases encountered by 89 providers to care for 46,024 patients. SAVe was the predominant digital encounter type (88.8%). The implementation of SAVe increased access to dermatologic care, with the wait time for referrals being shorter for SAVe (mean = 14.3 days) than for in-person (26.8 days) encounters. Patients aged ≤30 years were more likely to use SAVe than those aged >65 years. Diagnoses performed via SAVe were more likely to be of rash and acne, which may be more amenable to virtual care. The SAVe model was designed to provide a secure and integrated teledermatology model to complement in-person workflows to preserve access and quality of care.