Assessment of dermatologists’ perception of utilizing teledermatology during COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVES: To assess teledermatology (TD) perception among dermatologists in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify the most common advantages and disadvantages of TD. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey-based study to address Saudi dermatologist perceptions of TD from July 2020 to December 2020, during Covid-19 pandemic. RESULTS: Out of 664 emails sent, 107 complete responses were returned. Approximately 40.2% used TD through phone calls, followed by those who used a virtual clinic (32.7%). Also, the best way to use TD, according to respondents, was for triage before inpatient and outpatient visits. When we compared the use of TD in the outpatient and inpatient settings, outpatient responses always had more positive attitudes than inpatients. The most important benefit of TD is to reduce the risk of pandemic infections (69%). More than half of the participants sometimes used TD for diagnosis (n=63, 58.9%) and management (n=59, 55.1%), and 69 (64.5%) considered using it in the future. CONCLUSION: Our survey-based study indicates that TD is an important part in the future dermatology because our participants agreed that TD decreases cost, increases access to dermatology care, and reduces the risk of pandemic infections. And it is necessary to establish an infrastructure for TD that protects patient’s privacy and ensures accurate diagnosis.