• Abrar A Qureshi, Heather A Brandling-Bennett, Eve Wittenberg, Suephy C Chen, Arthur J Sober, and Joseph C Kvedar.
• Department of Dermatology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. aqureshi@partners.org
• Telemed J E Health. 2006 Dec 1; 12 (6): 639-43.

AbstractThe objective of this study was to evaluate willingness-to-pay stated preferences for telemedicine versus in-person clinic visits in patients with a history of psoriasis or melanoma. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 92 (n = 92) adult participants with a history of psoriasis or melanoma recruited primarily from hospital-based dermatology practices. Data were collected on patient demographics and willingness-to-pay responses. In a combined analysis for patients with melanoma and psoriasis, 73% of participants preferred telemedicine over in-person visits if access to the physician was quicker. The majority of those choosing telemedicine (95%) were also willing to pay a median of 25 dollars(5 dollars-500 dollars) out-of-pocket. When time to see a physician was held constant for telemedicine and in-person visits, 19% of participants preferred telemedicine and about 58% of these participants were willing to pay a median of 25 dollars(10 dollars-125 dollars) out-of-pocket. This preliminary work suggests that dermatology patients prefer telemedicine if this modality provides quicker access to their physician.

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