The Changing Tasks of Medicine and Dermatology in the Twenty-First Century: The Need for Improved Information Capture Tools and Processes

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Howa Yeung, Emory University; Yin Li, Emory University; Robert Swerlick, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2023-10-13
• Publisher: ADIS INT LTD
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © The Author(s) 2023
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13555-023-01046-3
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: DERMATOLOGY AND THERAPY
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 11
• Start Page: 2479
• End Page: 2486
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was supported by a Pfizer grant 36658727 (Integration of Standard Dermatology Outcome Measures in Electronic Medical Records to treat Atopic Dermatitis), which funded the development of pre-visit questionnaires and their integration into an electronic tools which facilitated data capture prior to office visits. No funding or sponsorship was received for this study or publication of this article.
• Keywords: Electronic health records; Quality of life; PRE-VISIT QUESTIONNAIRE; Information science; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Workflow; Dermatology; Science & Technology; Performance improvement; Patient goals; Patient-reported outcome; Questionnaire
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Health Care Management; Health Sciences, General

Abstract

The delivery of dermatology services has undergone dramatic changes in the past century. The goals and timelines of care have evolved as have the diagnostic and therapeutic tools, resulting in the need to capture and manage information differently, both qualitatively and quantitatively. The predominant and basic office-based ambulatory care model has remained relatively unchanged. Patients and providers interact with minimal pre-visit preparation using the “agenda-less” meeting model. This care model is ill-suited to manage the vastly expanded data capture and processing requirement of twenty-first century dermatology. We have developed novel tools to automate pre-visit data collection which allows for more robust information capture which moves data capture outside of the time-constrained clinic visit. These tools capture structured data, integrate into electronic health records, and create summary reports in real time to assist decision-making. These tools, if scaled, can facilitate the information management needs of dermatology care.