15971 Willingness to travel in underinsured patients undergoing teledermatology consultation

With the growing prevalence of cutaneous disease, teledermatology provides an alternative solution to provider shortages in underserved communities. However, some cases may require face-to-face evaluation. We aimed to delineate how far the underserved community is willing to travel for face-to-face consultations. A 10-month, prospective study was performed creating a local teledermatology network between Mayo Clinic and Mountain Park Health Clinic (MPHC), which serves underinsured patients in Phoenix, Arizona. A total of 37 patients were surveyed with a 100% response rate. Of those surveyed, 91.9% were able to travel for face-to-face consultations: 2.7% less than 5 miles, 10.8% 5-10 miles, 10.8% 11-25 miles, 59.5% 26-50 miles, and 8.1% greater than 50 miles. When asked distance willing to travel: 5.4% were not willing to travel, 2.7% less than 5 miles, 13.5% 5-10 miles, 59.5% 11-25 miles, 10.8% 26-50 miles, and 8.1% greater than 50 miles. As institutions develop teledermatology networks, understanding how far underinsured patients are both able and willing to travel is important. If travel distance was between 11-25 miles, 78.1% of these patients would be able and 78.4% would be willing to travel for a face-to-face consultation. If travel distance was between 26-50 miles, 67.6% of these patients would be able but only 18.9% would be willing to travel for a face-to-face consultation. Our results suggest that teledermatology networks should refer within a 25-mile radius.