# Teledermatology mobile apps:  Implementation and impact on Veterans' access to dermatology

> **NIH VA I01** · VETERANS AFFAIRS MED CTR SAN FRANCISCO · 2020 · —

## Abstract

Teledermatology has emerged as an effective option to enhance the access of patients to high quality skin
care in VA. VA's Office of Connected Care has developed two innovative mobile apps for VA teledermatology.
One app, VA Telederm, streamlines the current workstation-based consultative process between primary care
providers, teledermatology imagers and dermatologists, and is intended to lower the threshold for utilizing
teledermatology in VA primary care clinics. The other app, My Telederm, will allow established dermatology
patients to follow-up with VA dermatologists remotely rather than using in-person, clinic-based appointments.
The app is intended to reduce the distances that appropriate established patients must travel to dermatology
clinics and to improve the reliability of follow-up. It is also anticipated to free up appointment slots for new and
established patients who actually must be seen in-person. The proposed research will test the hypothesis
that successful implementation of each app will facilitate access of Veterans to dermatologic care. Each
mobile app and its associated technical and clinical support resources will be rolled out in a stepped wedge
cluster randomized trial design involving sites that are most likely to benefit from their use. The proposed
research will compare outcomes for sites that have received the app to those that have not yet received it.
Aim 1 will explicitly test the hypothesis by examining the following primary outcomes for both apps: 1)
Measures of temporal access will be assessed by comparing intervention and control groups with respect to all
dermatology consult and appointment completion times; 2) Measures of geographic access will include travel
distance and rurality; 3) Measures of total access will be reflected in the total instances of care as reflected by
the total numbers of dermatology/teledermatology encounters. In addition, outcome measures for the My
Telederm app will also include timeliness of follow-up with respect to the target date, and the no-show rate,
and the proportion of new patients in conventional dermatology clinics. Results will also be stratified by
rurality. Aim 2 will examine the factors that affect successful implementation and impact of each app. Guided
by the Replicating Effective Programs framework and Weiner's Organizational Theory of Implementation
Effectiveness, we will conduct in-depth formative evaluations at 3 early adopter sites for each app to determine
organizational, leadership, and end-user characteristics that correlate with implementation of the apps. In
addition, using nationally and remotely available enterprise-wide data, we will measure implementation and
adoption of apps at all participating sites. At the end of the study period, the proposed research will result in a
novel documentation of mobile teledermatology's effectiveness in enhancing Veterans' access to dermatology
services, as well as produce a comprehensive understanding of the factors le...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9981444
- **Project number:** 5I01HX002450-03
- **Recipient organization:** VETERANS AFFAIRS MED CTR SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** DENNIS H OH
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-01-01 → 2021-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9981444

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9981444, Teledermatology mobile apps:  Implementation and impact on Veterans' access to dermatology (5I01HX002450-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9981444. Licensed CC0.

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