The scope of teledermatology in India

Abstract

Telemedicine describes the application of information and communication technologies in the entire range of functions that involve the health sector. Several medical and surgical specialties utilize tele-consultation. Dermatology is the best clinical specialty in the use of communications technology because of its inherently visual nature in both diagnosis and follow-up, which makes it easily applicable to virtual medicine. Teledermatology embraces great potential for revolutionizing the delivery of dermatologic services to remote and distant locations by means of telecommunications and information technology. It encompasses consultations between a patient (and the primary healthcare provider) and a dermatologist for diagnosis and management advice. Teledermatology also covers dermatological education for health professionals and for consumers. Teleconsultations reduce time and increase the chances of access to one or more consultants as the patient or referring doctor desires, irrespective of the distance between the two. Its usefulness in the field of surgery and aesthetic surgery is immeasurable as there are only a few experts in the field of aesthetic surgery available currently in comparison to the dermatology population and the ever growing awareness and demand of the patients towards aesthetics. As the field of teledermatology is advancing in leaps and bounds the day is not far off when an aesthetic surgeon will be able to perform his skill from his own office on a patient in a distant locality with the help of a qualified and trained assistant. By adopting high-tech medical communication, high-performance computers, high-resolution cameras, and fiber-optic equipment's the entire world shrinks!