Advancing Dermatological Care: A Comprehensive Narrative Review of Tele-Dermatology and mHealth for Bridging Gaps and Expanding Opportunities beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Mobile health (mHealth) has recently had significant advances in tele-dermatology (TD) thanks to the developments following the COVID-19 pandemic. This topic is very important, as telemedicine and mHealth, when applied to dermatology, could improve both the quality of healthcare for citizens and the workflow in the health domain. The proposed study was centered on the last three years. We conducted an overview on the opportunities, the perspectives, and the problems involved in TD integration with mHealth. The methodology of the narrative review was based on: (I) a search of PubMed and Scopus and (II) an eligibility assessment, using properly proposed parameters. The outcome of the study showed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, TD integration with mHealth advanced rapidly. This integration enabled the monitoring of dermatological problems and facilitated remote specialist visits, reducing face-to-face interactions. AI and mobile apps have empowered citizens to take an active role in their healthcare. This differs from other imaging sectors where information exchange is limited to professionals. The opportunities for TD in mHealth include improving service quality, streamlining healthcare processes, reducing costs, and providing more accessible care. It can be applied to various conditions, such as (but not limited to) acne, vitiligo, psoriasis, and skin cancers. Integration with AI and augmented reality (AR), as well as the use of wearable sensors, are anticipated as future developments. However, integrating TD with mHealth also brings about problems and challenges related to regulations, ethics, cybersecurity, data privacy, and device management. Scholars and policymakers need to address these issues while involving citizens in the process.

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