Analysis of Dermatologic Counseling by PC Communication

Cha, Jung Hoon; Oh, Chang Keun; Jang, Ho Sun; Kwon, Kyung Sool

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Telemedicine(tele+medicine=medicine at a distance) is a health care delivery system to deliver health care to patients at distant sites. In Korea, medical counseling by PC communication is nearly the only available field in the telemedicine at present. However, the concerns of telemedicine is growing as an issue, and dermatologists in Korea should be prepared for "the era of teledermatology".
OBJECTIVE
We analyzed the queries of PC communication and the internet. Based on the results of the analysis, we tried to establish a more effective medical counseling system by PC communication and make them basic data to prepare the utilization of telemedicine system.
METHODS
We analyzed questions and answers in ten sites in a computer mediated communication system from Jan 1 to Dec 31, 1997.
RESULTS
The proportion of questions in dermatologic area among all medical fields was relatively high(8.7-13.4%). The frequency was acne, urticaria, alopecia, and so on, in an order of high frequency, which was different from previous results in a statistical study of outpatients in dermatology. Reasons for questions were to know the treatment method(42.2%), to get the diagnosis (23.7%), and so on. Contents of answers were explanation(46.5%), advice to visit doctors(40.4%), and so on.
CONCLUSION
The proportion of dermatologic questions in telemedicine was high, and there are possibilities of dermatology's being important in the future of telemedicine. Therefore, dermatologists should be prepared for the future telemedicine era. However, teledermatology should be evaluated thoroughly and improved because we could see some problems in that.