Choice, transparency, coordination, and quality among direct-to-consumer telemedicine websites and apps treating skin disease.
Telemedicine is being more widely used in order to increase access to care. A relatively new aspect of telemedicine is direct-to-consumer telemedicine, including teledermatology. Using secret shoppers who submitted photographs and clinical information to teledermatology sites, this study found poor diagnostic accuracy and failure to elicit important information. Other studies have also raised concerns about the diagnostic accuracy of virtual clinical visits.