Increasing Access to Dermatology Care

I specialize in the treatment of psoriasis. The National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF), which endorses the content in this publication, has been an invaluable partner, helping me to educate my patients about their treatment options, working to encourage companies to develop new psoriasis treatments, and funding research to help find a cure for the disease. One of the foundations’s most important activities has been to help ensure patients have access to the therapies they need. 

Fortunately for patients, those treatment options are ever expanding. That is one reason the NPF and the American Academy of Dermatology recently updated their guidelines for the first time in more than a decade. We look at what the new guidelines have to say about the wealth of new biologics that dermatologists now have at their disposal, beginning on page 27. (Look for the second part, which addresses comorbidities, next issue.) 

Access to care is by no means a problem for patients with psoriasis alone. We live in a world of limited resources, and many regions globally struggle to meet some very basic patient needs. Our cover story this month, about a remarkable teledermatology program that has brought care to thousands of people in a region of Africa that once had severely limited access, can teach us how far technology can go toward meeting those needs—whether abroad or right here in the United States. You can read it beginning on page 35. 

In an ideal world, there would be no limits on medical resources, and every patient would have access to the best care possible. Physician assistants (PAs) play a crucial part in providing access where it is lacking. This month, the Society of Dermatology Physician Assistants spoke to Neal Bhatia, MD, a member of our advisory board, about his experience working with PAs and how the collaboration provides an enhanced patient experience, beginning on page 23. 

Access may always be an issue in dermatology, but with the assistance of technology, the options—like the treatments for so many of the diseases we encounter—are always increasing. 

Dr Feldman is with the Center for Dermatology Research and the Departments of Dermatology, Pathology, and Public Health Sciences at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston- Salem, NC.