title: Teledermatology Within the Veterans Health Administration, 2002-2014.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In order to increase veterans' access to dermatologic care, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has developed one of the largest teledermatology programs in the United States. This article describes the recent expansion of the VHA's teledermatology program after local and national initiatives and resource allocation.
  
  
  METHODS
  This report describes routinely collected VHA data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For the first half of fiscal year 2014, the VHA recorded 31,926 teledermatology encounters, which represents 14% of all recorded teledermatology visits. Although every region in the VHA used teledermatology in the past year, four regions created 51% of the encounters. The use of store-and-forward telehealth (SFT), in which physicians view patient images after the patients were photographed, is increasing, whereas live video use is decreasing. Starting in 2012, encounters for patients in urban areas exceeded those in rural areas. The majority of patients were male veterans 60-79 years of age. Seventy-one percent of SFT consultations for the first half of 2014 were completed within 1 week.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although errors in and the evolution of coding encounters may distort results, the data show rapid growth of a telemedicine system that increases access to dermatology services for veterans. Most likely this growth reflects institutional commitment to telehealth via policy and resources.
authors.affiliation: 1 Providence VA Medical Center , Providence, Rhode Island.|2 Brown University , Providence, Rhode Island.
authors.forename: Shoshana M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Landow
authors.affiliation: 3 San Francisco VA Medical Center , San Francisco, California.|4 University of California at San Francisco , San Francisco, California.
authors.forename: Dennis H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: 1 Providence VA Medical Center , Providence, Rhode Island.|2 Brown University , Providence, Rhode Island.
authors.forename: Martin A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Weinstock
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003880:Dermatology / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs
keywords: teleconsultation; teledermatology; telehealth; telemedicine