SkyMD has announced the full-scale rollout of its telehealth application: a platform that connects dermatologists to their patients. Since its soft launch in October 2015, SkyMD has seen growth in the application’s usage and effectiveness. Thousands of patients are registered, and more than 50 dermatologists actively use the platform, with licensed providers across 25 states. It aims to supply dermatologists with the information, tools and resources needed to make an evaluation quickly and effectively, as well as enhance the patient experience and deliver high-quality, efficient care at a lower cost.
The platform is specifically designed to comply with the recently released American Medical Association (AMA) regulations and guidelines on provider responsibility in telemedicine. SkyMD enables and encourages patients to select their preferred provider; connects them with certified healthcare providers licensed in the patient’s state; collects relevant patient information prior to evaluation; utilizes proprietary treatment templates and patient education for comprehensive evaluations; allows patients to share their treatment plan with their primary care physician; and helps them find a local dermatologist if the SkyMD dermatologist is too far. According to a recent press release, doctors using the platform have been able to treat 90% of their SkyMD cases without the need for further in-person evaluation, and have reduced their treatment time by more than 75%.
“Certain telehealth companies have presented themselves as ‘anonymous informational services’ rather than a ‘healthcare service’ in order to circumvent the legal requirements surrounding a physician-patient relationship,” said Eric Price, co-founder and CEO of SkyMD. “But when a patient receives information from a physician online, they are more likely to trust the source and act upon that information regardless of the legal disclaimers surrounding it. Any platform connecting doctors and patients online should therefore adhere to a common standard of care. The SkyMD platform was designed by a team of board-certified dermatologists and tested within their own practices with this guiding principle in mind.”
Doctors and patients can access the web-based platform at www.skymd.com from their smartphone, tablet or desktop computer. Patients can also access SkyMD via its native iOS and Android apps.
