A patient who came to Dr. Hamidi had been treated over a period of two decades for a severe case of eczema on his hands. Working in a field that involved handling food, drinks and other personal items for customers, he was very conscious of the way people reacted when they noticed the extreme redness, cracking and flaking of his skin.

Previous rounds of oral steroids had helped temporarily, but because these had to be limited, symptoms rarely went away. Dr. Hamidi took a different approach, providing topical medicines, education on flare-prevention skin care and information on other potential therapies. When the patient returned in three weeks, his skin was almost clear.

“First and foremost, I was happy that I was able to help the patient, but I was shocked that no other doctor had taken the time to educate him on proper skin care to manage his severe case of eczema,” Dr. Hamadi said. “This reinforced my belief that counseling a patient can make a world of difference and is absolutely worth the extra 10 or 15 minutes.”

Dr. Hamidi, who practices in Long Beach, California, appreciates the way teledermatology gives patients better access to skin care, but she also enjoys the ability to collaborate on cases with other doctors.

“There have been a few cases where a lesion was highly suspicious for skin cancer, and without my recommendation for biopsy, diagnosis may have been significantly delayed. This is the number one thing that scares me as a dermatologist and one of the reasons teledermatology is such a great asset to the practice of medicine,” she said.