Electronic Health Reporter

AristaMD, an innovative telehealth platform that delivers primary care providers timely and documented specialist insight, announced today the launch of an app allowing its providers to easily transfer images as part of the eConsult platform. The new web-based AristaMD Photo App is an easy-to-access, streamlined, and HIPAA-compliant solution that further enhances electronic consultation efficiency and effectiveness for cases needing visual references—most commonly the dermatology consult.

AristaMD, which launched in 2013, aims to improve healthcare outcomes by connecting its thousands of participating payers and providers to specialists through eConsults. It is already proven to deliver cost-effective, more timely access to specialty care. Providers simply use their mobile phone to take photos through the app, which are automatically and securely saved exclusively to the AristaMD platform, then continue to process their referral order and eConsult as usual.

There are fewer practicing dermatologists in rural regions. Geographic barriers compound the issue of long wait times for specialist appointments. According to a recent report,“since 2009 patient wait times for a dermatology appointment have increased by 46 percent, or from an average of 22.1 days to 32.3 days in 2017.” Timely access to care for dermatological issues can have a significant impact on patient health, as conditions include life-threatening and quickly progressing conditions such as skin cancer.  Researchers have found “providing specialty treatment to a potential melanoma within 14 days of diagnosis could improve a patient’s prognosis by 20 percent.”

Use of AristaMD’s eConsults have proven highly effective with 81 percent of dermatology consults replacing a face-to-face visit with a dermatologist. The Photo App will continue improving patient access to this specialty care for even more case uses.

“Currently, patients are waiting anywhere from two to four months for a specialist appointment, but the reality is that a large portion of those specialist referrals are not needed,” said Brooke LeVasseur, CEO of AristaMD. “The new AristaMD Photo App will help PCPs continue to significantly reduce unnecessary face-to-face referrals in even more cases needing visual documentation. This marks one of many product innovations my team has been working on to expand the benefits of eConsults to as many patients as possible.”