JMIR Dermatology

Provider opt-out of accepting Medicare insurance is a nationally tracked metric by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for all physicians, including dermatologists. Although this usually only consists of a small number of providers, the magnitude of opting out has varied historically, often tracing changes in systemic health care policy.

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the widespread adoption of teledermatology, and this continues to account for a significant proportion of dermatology visits after clinics have reopened for in-person care. Delivery of high-quality teledermatology care requires adequate visualization of the patient’s skin, with photographs being preferred over live video for remote skin examination. It remains unknown which patients face the greatest barriers to participating in a teledermatology visit with photographs.

Skin cancers are concerning for unsheltered people experiencing homelessness because of their high levels of sun exposure. Currently, there is little data on the prevalence of skin cancers in people experiencing homelessness. Skin diseases are often untreated in people experiencing homelessness due to a lack of access to specialized care. Miami Street Medicine (MSM) is an organization that provides people experiencing homelessness in the Miami Health District with medical care in a nonclinical street setting, near overpasses, sidewalks, and encampments. We present a case of an unsheltered 59-year-old male with a pigmented, 2 cm × 2 cm facial lesion that developed over several years. Through a teledermatology consultation, his lesion was highly suspicious of melanoma and further evaluation was recommended. Due to a lack of insurance, he could not be treated at any dermatology clinic. Coincidentally, 2 weeks later, he developed cellulitis of his lower extremity and was admitted to the local safety-net hospital through the emergency department. By coordinating with his primary inpatient team, MSM was able to include a biopsy of the lesion as part of his hospital stay. The results demonstrated melanoma in situ. The vital course of action was to ensure treatment before metastasis. After registration for insurance and follow-up with a surgical oncology team, he is weeks away from excision and reconstruction surgery. His unsheltered status made follow-up difficult, but MSM bridged the gap from the street to the clinical setting by incorporating teledermatology into patient evaluations and leveraging connections with community shareholders such as charitable clinics and volunteer physicians. This case also represents the barriers to care for cancer-based dermatologic outreach among people experiencing homelessness.

Dermatologists rely on visual findings; thus, teledermatology is uniquely compatible to providing dermatologic care. The use of mobile phones in a store-and-forward approach, where gathered data are sent to a distant health provider for later review, may be a potential bridge in seeking dermatologic care.

The American Academy of Dermatology and the Food and Drug Administration recommend consultation with a dermatologist prior to undergoing laser tattoo removal. However, non–health care professionals offer tattoo removal. Understanding the information available on the internet for patients regarding tattoo removal is important given that individuals are increasingly consulting digital sources to make decisions regarding skin care. Prior research has identified that YouTube contains misinformation on dermatologic health.

Alopecia areata (AA) is associated with negative impacts on the quality of life (QoL). Data on this impact are lacking for Canadian patients and their caregivers.

A teledermoscopy service was established in January 2010 wherein patients attended nurse-led clinics for the imaging of lesions of concern and remote diagnosis by a dermatologist.

Most common viral skin infections are not reportable conditions. Studying the population dynamics of these viral epidemics using traditional field methods is costly and time-consuming, especially over wide geographical areas.

Cutaneous angiomyolipoma is a rare mesenchymal tumor that is demographically, clinically, and immunohistochemically distinct from its renal and extrarenal counterparts. We present a case of cutaneous angiomyolipoma in the right retroauricular area of a 35-year-old male patient and provide a broad systematic review of the literature and the largest compilation of cutaneous angiomyolipomas reported to date. According to the findings presented in this review, we conclude that cutaneous angiomyolipoma should be completely separated from renal and extrarenal angiomyolipomas and therefore be considered a distinct entity in the classification of skin tumors.

Melanoma of the penis is a rare tumor with a poor prognosis. We report the case of a 73-year-old patient with no significant medical history, admitted for deterioration of the general condition and bilateral inguinal lymph nodes. An abdominal ultrasound and thoraco-abdomino-pelvic CT (computed tomography) scan revealed metastatic liver nodules, the tumoral nature of which was confirmed by an anatomopathological examination. Further clinical examination revealed papular and ulcerated lesions of the penis located at the urethral meatus and glans penis. These lesions were biopsied and histologically assessed as melanoma. The contribution of imaging in penile tumors is generally not useful for diagnosis as clinical examination is key. However, it has its place in the assessment of locoregional and distant extension. In our case, it was the distant lesions that helped orient the diagnosis. The patient underwent immunotherapical treatment and is still alive 19 months after the diagnosis.