1. A Framework-Driven Systematic Review of the Barriers and Facilitators to Teledermatology Implementation
- Author
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Elaine Yuen Ling Kwok, Joseph C. English, and Edwin Dovigi
- Subjects
Teledermatology ,Telemedicine ,Future studies ,Study quality ,Process management ,Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ,business.industry ,media_common.quotation_subject ,COVID-19 ,Dermatology ,Teledermatology (D Oh, Section Editor) ,030207 dermatology & venereal diseases ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Health care ,Medicine ,Quality (business) ,business ,Reimbursement ,media_common - Abstract
Purpose of Review Telemedicine use in dermatology, termed “teledermatology”, offers a cost-effective model to improve healthcare efficiency and access. Only a minority of dermatology practices has integrated teledermatology into their practice prior to COVID-19. A thorough understanding of the barriers and facilitators may promote teledermatology adoption. Implementation science frameworks offer theoretically driven ways to assess factors affecting teledermatology implementation. This review uses a comprehensive implementation science framework to summarize barriers and facilitators of teledermatology implementation and appraises the quality of existing research. Recent Findings Technological characteristics of teledermatology (e.g., user-friendliness) and factors within the outer setting (e.g., reimbursement and legal considerations) were the most commonly reported barriers. No existing studies use a comprehensive implementation framework to identify factors influencing teledermatology implementation. Many included studies have a risk of bias in at least two of the five study quality indices evaluated. Summary This systematic review is the first study to summarize the existing teledermatology implementation literature into well-defined constructs from a comprehensive implementation science framework. Findings suggest future studies would benefit from the use of an implementation framework to reduce study bias, improve result comprehensiveness, facilitate comparisons across studies, and produce evidence-based resolutions to implementation barriers. Tools, resources, and recommendations to facilitate the use of an implementation framework in future studies are provided. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13671-020-00323-0.
- Published
- 2020
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