Patients with atopic dermatitis who participated in a direct-access online model for delivering following-up care achieved equivalent improvements in disease severity compared with those whose disease was managed through in-person visits, according to a study of 156 children and adults published in JAMA Dermatology (doi:10.1001/jamadermatol.2014.2299).
As assessed by patient-oriented eczema measure (POEM) and investigator global assessment (IGA), patients in the direct-access online group whose disease was managed through the direct-access online model over the 12-month study period improved their POEM scores from a mean (SD) baseline of 13.04 (5.32) to 7.94 (4.55) at 12 months.
Dr. April W. Armstrong of the University of Colorado, Denver, and her associates noted that the direct-access online specialty-care delivery model used in the study could be used for other chronic conditions where regular access to specialists is critical to patient outcomes, such as psoriasis and wound management.Read the entire article here .
